


the 7th sense - the UNCT chronicles

by citruscake



Category: EXO (Band), NCT (Band), VIXX
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - MAMA (EXO Music Video), Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Mentioned EXO, Multi, Superpowers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-22
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-05-26 17:56:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 27,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15006254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/citruscake/pseuds/citruscake
Summary: a continuation of #SUMMER127 - the UNCT chronicles;in which the members of NCT try to discover where their secret powers come from.a collection of stories to supplement my twitter au, which you can check out here! https://twitter.com/_seojohnny/status/1007493401783164928





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> nice to see u again ♥ make sure you keep up with the AU on twitter!

Normally, Baozi Coffee Shop is a pretty quiet place, but with the addition of the 8 students, it's turned into something similar to a dumpster fire. (Well, 7 students and Jisung, who's on his phone.)

 

"Alright Markus, explain away." Johnny's got his full attention on the middle brother, who has been continuously harassing the youngest while they wait for their drinks. Mark's eyes widens and he chokes on his bubble tea as he realizes.

 

"Okay, so!" he pulls out his laptop and opens it, typing away quickly. "As you know I've been spending a lot of time at the library,"

 

"Flirting with Hyuck," Jisung mutters, not looking up from his phone. A chorus of _What?_ can be heard from around the table.

 

Mark shoves a hand into Jisung's side. "Aaaand, I've learned a lot about this whole '7th sense' thing. It turns out that at any given point in time there's only 2-5 people in the world who have a secret power from each of the legends. Aaaaand also some of them have powers that aren't directly derived from the legends, but fall into the same category? So yeah."

 

Taeyong separates himself from Jaehyun's arms, now curious. "So whose powers are derived from who? Do you know? Like, Jaehyunnie is electricity, and Tennie is light."

 

"Jaehyunnie is a descendant of Chen, then, and Ten, you're a descendant of Baekhyun. I think Baekhyun is one of the ones who only has 2 people at any time who has his powers, and in the stories he was always the one that the red force was going after."  Mark rotates his laptop so everyone can see the chart he's found.

 

**_THE TWELVE LEGENDS & THEIR DESCENDANTS_ **

 

**_SUHO: WATER_ **

**_CHANYEOL: FIRE_ **

**_SEHUN: WIND_ **

**_CHEN: THUNDER/LIGHTNING_ **

**_XIUMIN: FROST/ICE/SNOW_ **

**_BAEKHYUN: LIGHT_ **

 

**_KRIS: FLIGHT_ **

**_LUHAN: TELEKINESIS_ **

**_LAY: HEALING_ **

**_TAO: TIME CONTROL_ **

**_KAI: TELEPORTATION_ **

**_D.O.: FORCE, STRENGTH_ **

 

Ten  adjusts his glasses, craning his neck to read the tiny text. "So that means that.. Jaehyunnie, Kun, Doyoung, and me are the only direct descendants, right?"

 

"Well, my friend Hyuck is a direct descendant too. He can make fire." Mark replies.

 

"No, no, Yuta is a direct descendant too," Doyoung chimes in, "he can self-heal."

 

"Wait, can't all humans self heal?" Johnny asks, taking a sip of his latte.

 

"Johnny. He heals immediately, whereas your stupid ass takes a week to recover from a paper cut."

 

"Hey! Don't be mean!"

 

Taeyong leans back in his chair, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. "That doesn't explain Jungwoo, Taeil hyung, or Sicheng though."

 

Mark rotates his laptop back, opening a document to take notes of everything they're discussing. "I think Taeil hyung would fall under Baekhyun's category.. What about the other two?"

 

"Sicheng can control plants and nature, and Jungwoo can talk to animals. Maybe Sicheng falls into Lay's category?"

 

"Are you sure Jungwoo can talk to animals, or is he just crazy? I mean, he _is_ dating Lucas." Jaehyun remarks. Taeyong smacks him on the chest.

 

"Have you _seen_ him carry a conversation with Snowball? It's the freakiest thing. They stare into each other's eyes and Snowball makes all sorts of weird noises whenever Jungwoo talks to him." Taeyong shudders at the thought.

 

"Wait, who's Lucas?" Mark asks.

 

"This kid Jungwoo is dating that is gonna most likely be joining our happy family next semester." Jaehyun replies, "He's a freshman like you."

 

"Ohh, I wonder if we'll be roommates! I get to move into the dorms next week."  Mark claps excitedly, completely sidetracked from what they were talking about. Jisung kicks him to bring him back to reality.

 

Johnny clears his throat.  "Anyway, did anything come up for 'EXO Planet'?" he makes the air quote gesture as he says 'exo planet'.

 

Mark squints at him. "Who the hell makes air quotes? Anyway, all that came up was the kpop group EXO whenever I tried to look it up. That and… astronomy."

 

Immediately, Taeyong and Ten's eyes light up. They stand up in their seats, and Ten's fingers are faintly glowing. "DID SOMEONE SAY EXO?"

 

The entire group lean back from the two, alarmed at the sudden increase in volume and change in demeanor.

 

"Can you believe EXO's comeback is right around the corner?! I already decorated my lightstick in preparation!!" Taeyong is bouncing up and down in his seat, Chattering excitedly with Ten. Johnny and Jaehyun feel like they're experiencing culture shock.

 

Jaehyun shakes his head and puts a hand in the center of their table. "Can you guys explain who these EXO people are? And what connection do they have to the twelve legends?"

 

Ten and Taeyong look at each other, eyes shining with excitement. They look towards their boyfriends, taking a deep breath. "Are you sure you're ready for this explanation?" Taeyong asks as Ten shoves his hands under his thighs to hide the glowing fingers. Johnny nods, and they begin their explanation.

 

"So! EXO are a Korean group with twelve original members. Their concept is loosely based on the concept of the twelve legends, and they all have the same stage names as the legends!" Ten starts, and Taeyong picks up after him.

 

"However, about four years ago they lost three members - Kris, Tao, and Luhan. We still treat them as part of the group though, because once you're in EXO, you're part of the family forever!" Taeyong has a huge grin on his face. "The weird thing is though, while Tao and Luhan continued to do music after they left EXO, Kris completely disappeared off the face of the planet. Literally no one can find him anywhere, not even the sasaengs!"

 

"The what?" Taeil asks, but gets cut off by Johnny.

 

"What was this Kris dude's power?" the photographer asks.

 

"Oh, he was my favorite!" Ten claps. "His power was flight."

 

"Well.. I think as of right now he has the potential to be one of the twelve legends. There has to be a way to find him, because we know the rest of EXO is untouchable."

 

Suddenly, Doyoung's eyes light up as he remembers something. "Wait.. I met these guys while I was in Korea last month."

 

Taeyong and Ten stand up from their spots, slamming their hands down on the table. "EXCUSE ME? YOU WHAT? AND YOU DIDN'T TELL ANY OF US?!"

 

Doyoung uses his powers to shove them back into their seats. "Calm your exo-l asses down. They're completely normal guys, not a single one of them has powers. I worked with them while I was interning at SM."

 

"What the hell, you had a cool summer and you couldn't fill us in? So mean." Jaehyun fakes a sniffle as he sips his banana milk. Doyoung uses his powers to shove the straw up his nose, and now Jaehyun's sniffling for real.

 

"But did you meet Kris, Tao, or Luhan?" Johnny asks. Doyoung shakes his head.

 

"Tao and Luhan were in China, I think. Maybe Jungwoo met them?"

 

"Why would Jungwoo have met them? He was just in China visiting his family and Lucas." Taeyong replies, pouting at the fact that Doyoung met EXO and didn't tell any of them.

 

"Look, I couldn't have told any of you while I was there anyway. I only got the internship because they're training Jeno to be an idol." Doyoung's got a sheepish grin on his face, trying to hide his pride for his younger brother.

 

"Maybe I should be an idol." Jisung half-heartedly mutters, not looking up from his phone. Mark snatches the phone out of his hands and starts going through his messages.

 

"Whatever the case, it appears we have a dead end here.. So if you'll excuse me, I'm going to take the kids home so we can continue our Netflix binge." Taeil stands up, bringing the kids with him, and they say their goodbyes to the remaining five.

 

Johnny leans back in his chair for what seems like the millionth time that afternoon, running his hands through his hair in frustration. Ten and Taeyong seem to have snapped out of exo-l mode, and Ten shoots his boyfriend a look of concern.

 

"I'm sorry Johnny, but it looks like we're gonna have to give up the search for now." Jaehyun gently bumps his best friend, whose eyes haven't left his coffee cup. None of them have seen him this down since before he met Ten. "Maybe once the semester starts, we'll have some more info?"

 

"Even if we were to find the piece, what are we even going to do with it? Sell it to a museum and make money" the photographer monologues, "Is it even worth finding? What if we find it and then the red force comes after us? Maybe it's safer that we just not go after it."

 

"If it's important to you, Johnny, then it's important to us. We're all friends here, and we support each other no matter what." Ten grasps his hand tightly, in an effort to soothe his boyfriend. It seems to work, because the photographer meets his gaze and grasps his hand back.

 

"You're right. The piece probably isn't hiding in a bakery, anyway." Johnny laughs.

 

"Finally, I won't be posting another bakery review on my channel! About time!" Doyoung remarks, and the rest of the group laughs along with him.


	2. Friday Night - UNCT NIGHT NIGHT Audio Transcript

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Johnny and Jaehyun invite Doyoung and Ten onto the first episode of UNCT NIGHT NIGHT for the semester, and they get a little more than they bargained for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HELL WEEK IS OVER! let's celebrate with another chapter.
> 
> i tried another style of writing - i don't like this one all too much, so it probably won't be used as often, but it's definitely fun for developing the characters and alluding back to the previous au. 
> 
> in case you're not keeping up with the AU on twitter, here's what you missed: 
> 
> \- Kris is Taeyong, Johnny, Yuta, and Doyoung's art history instructor  
> \- because Kris disappeared off the face of the planet after leaving EXO, Johnny & the squad are now suspicious that Kris may actually be one of the 12 legends, despite all of their research saying that the 12 legends died off and were reborn through the 7th sense  
> \- Johnny and Jaehyun decided to talk about the 7th sense for their first episode of UNCT Night Night to see what their followers have to say about it
> 
> i highly recommend following the AU on twitter, as there's a lot of content you're missing out on ! thanks for keeping up, and see you soon! 
> 
> xo pink

AUDIO TRANSCRIPTION OF UNCT NIGHT NIGHT, AUGUST 31, 2018

 

Johnny = JS, Jaehyun = JJH, Doyoung = KDY, Ten = T

 

JJH: A jewel shines even when it's shattered. A rose tree is still called a rose tree even when the flowers aren't blooming yet. Rather than the image that can be seen now, what's inside you, that is the true you.

 

JS: UNCT'S Night Night!

 

[ 엔 (N) - ' 선인장 ' Recording Sketch ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uBlcMsr8s88)

 

JJH: Welcome to the first episode of UNCT's Night Night for the semester! I'm your host, Jae-D!

 

JS: Expect nothing less from our Poetic Beauty himself. Tuning in from UNCT on this beautiful Friday night, it's your host John-D.

 

JJH: And expect nothing less from Mr. #JOHNTOGRAPHY himself. Tonight, we have two guests with us - why don't you introduce yourselves?

 

KDY: Nice to see you again everyone! It's your favorite MC, Kim Doyoung!

 

T: Nice to meet you! I'm Ten, and I'm a second year Dance major. Thanks for having me tonight!

 

Johnny is looking at Ten like the sun is shining out of his ass. Jaehyun smacks him to remind him of their main goal for the night. Ten covers his mouth and stifles a giggle. 

 

JS: Doyoung, Ten, it's a pleasure to have you both here with us tonight. We have something special planned since it's the beginning of the semester - we'd like to hear from you, our viewers!

 

JJH: That's right - tonight we'll be talking about urban legends. Make sure to mention us on Twitter so we can read your comments live!

 

KDY: We've already got a comment! It says.. "I miss you hyung." … Oh, that was my little brother in Korea. Miss you too, Jeno!

 

T: Aww, cute!

 

JS: Alright squad, be sure to send your favorite urban legends our way! We'll be looking forward to discussing them live.

 

JJH: To kick things off, though, I'd like to talk about the urban legend that John-D and I have been researching over the summer break. Who would like to tell the story?

 

T: I got this!

 

Ten is glowing with excitement. Johnny can't hide the love on his face. Doyoung looks at Jaehyun and makes a gagging gesture. 

 

T: So, a long long long time ago, there was this tree called the Tree of Life, right? And it lived on EXO Planet, where the 12 legends nurtured and protected it. There was this really strong wind that blew across the universe and all the leaves on the tree of life helped create the planets.

 

KDY: Not gonna lie, I like your version of the story better than the version John-D told me.

 

T: Thank you ~! So, from one of these planets came the red force, and they were really really about that conquer the universe life, right? So they decided that they would conquer every planet in their search for the heart.. And it got to the point where they destroyed half the universe because they couldn't find it!

 

JJH: Ooh, pause Tennie, we got a comment! Haechan from NCITY HS says: This is literally the only urban legend that matters. Ten, thank you for doing the gods' work.

 

T: Thank you, Haechan!

 

JS: That name sounds familiar.. Oh wait, here's another comment! Hongbin, UNCT engineering major says: Ten, your voice is so soothing. Thank you for making my late-night studying easier to bear.

 

Ten giggles. Johnny squints at his phone, jealousy flickering in his eyes. Jaehyun leans away from his microphone to laugh.

 

T: Thank you, Hongbin~ Can I finish the story now?

 

KDY: Go on !

 

T: So, after half the universe got destroyed, the twelve legends caught on that the red force was gonna find them soon! So they took the heart of the tree of life and they (Ten claps) SPLIT IT INTO TWELVE! And since it was now 12 pieces it was IMPOSSIBLE to find for the red force!

 

KDY: Legend has it that those 12 pieces are hiding here on our planet, but no one's been able to find them yet. And it's said that those pieces are connected to the existence of people on this planet who have what is called "The 7th Sense," a special skill that allows them to access the secret powers that the 12 legends had millions of years ago.

 

JS: Squad, have any of you ever encountered people with secret powers? Let us know!

 

\---

 

JJH: This is UNCT Night Night, back after a short break. The full moon is bright tonight, almost as bright as all of the comments we received! Doyoung, would you like to catch us up?

 

KDY: Yes, that's true! It seems we have viewers from all around the world tonight; Renjun from China would like to share with us a famous urban legend about a floating city. Apparently, thousands of people witnessed it, but there was no photo evidence.

 

JS: That kind of reminds me of Avatar.. Have you guys seen it?

 

T: What, the children's show? I loved it! I'm sure lots of people were able to relate to it.

 

JS: No, no, I'm talking about the movie with the gigantic blue people. Gods, it was such a wild ride.

 

JJH: John-D, you have to remember that Doyoung & Ten aren't from NCITY so they don't know all the nctzen entertainment.. Nice try, though!

 

JS: So you're telling me that both Korea and Thailand didn't have the Avatar movie?

 

KDY: I think it just wasn't as wildly popular as it was here in NCITY.

 

T: Yeah I.. I actually don't remember it at all!

 

JS: Well.. we're going to watch it later, so get ready. It's three hours long.

 

JJH: Like Infinity War?

 

JS: … Don't talk about Infinity War to me.

 

KDY: *clears throat* Moving on, Lucas, UNCT Audio Production Major, would like to share his boyfriend's secret powers with us. Apparently his boyfriend can talk to animals, yet he's only ever witnessed him talking to his pet dog, Snowball.

 

JJH: Ah, that's an interesting power! I wonder which of the twelve legends he derived it from?

 

T: I guess there's no way to actually know? Oh, wait, look! We got an anonymous comment.

 

JS: Anonymous says.. Don't look any more into the 7th sense. You'll only wind up putting yourself in danger.

 

The air is dead silent between the four boys for about ten seconds. Johnny is frozen as he wonders why researching the 7th sense could be dangerous.

 

KDY: … Sorry about that, everyone! We're still here, just a little thrown off by that comment.

 

JJH: I think that's enough comments for tonight.. Thank you, squad, for sharing with us your urban legends and comments. It's time to turn on the good night mix - this is your poetic beauty, Jae-D, signing off.

 

T: This is Ten! Thank you for having me tonight, and have a great rest!

 

KDY: Good night, squad. Sweet dreams!

 

Johnny is still silent. Ten pokes him, and he snaps out of his daze. He lets out a shaky breath and regains his composure.

 

JS: This is your favorite photographer signing off. Everyone, have a wonderful Friday night, and enjoy your weekend. This has been UNCT's Night Night!

 

[ ♫ chill night drive ;  밤에 드라이브할때 듣기 좋은 노래모음 (15 songs) ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d5yiaba0sSU&t=0s&list=PLmECfcu4bBSvpMY9OHjimXgMIwKMiyY7r&index=25)


	3. confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> johnny tries to get some answers from professor yifan.

Johnny ends up being the one getting close to Professor Yifan. Not out of necessity, but because he's actually finding the class extremely interesting. The first few weeks of Professor Yifan's art history class focus specifically on the oldest pieces of art ever found, and while they're crude at best, the subject matter is… strange, to say the least.

 

Professor Yifan has a very strange attention to detail for these pieces, and he describes them as if he was actually there. It's making Johnny really, really suspicious of their instructor, to the point where he's constantly asking questions and pissing off the rest of the class.

 

It isn't until Yifan is lecturing about a painting of a tree that Johnny really starts to put the pieces together. Johnny literally sits upright in his chair, eyes wide, and smacks Yuta with the force of a thousand suns. Yuta all but yelps at the contact.

 

"Hey! What the hell was that for?!" Yuta hisses at the photographer, rubbing his arm despite the pain ceasing immediately.

 

"You see that tree? That has to be it. The tree of life."

 

"What?"

 

"Tell Doyoung to check his phone!"

 

\---

 

[{ view johnny & doyoung's conversation here } ](https://twitter.com/_seojohnny/status/1015791633609023488)

 

\---

 

"Mr. Seo, Mr. Kim, I know you both are very engaged in the class, but I'd appreciate it if you're not on your phones during my lecture. You're disrupting the rest of the students." Professor Yifan's voice pierces through Johnny and Doyoung's fierce conversation, causing both boys to jolt in their seats. Doyoung looks up and bows his head at their instructor, cheeks turning pink from the embarrassment.

 

Johnny doesn't back down, though. "Forgive me, Professor, but this tree we're talking about is definitely the Tree of Life, isn't it? The frame with the twelve jewels can't just be coincidental."

 

Yifan's eyes narrow. "It's very possible that the commissioner of the painting just requested really specific details of the painter. Unfortunately, because the piece is so old, we don't have all the details that surround its creation."

 

Johnny doesn't believe a word of what he's saying, but he keeps quiet for the sake of the rest of the class. It's almost over anyway, and he's going to harass Professor Yifan during his office hours since his next class got cancelled.

 

Yifan continues with his lecture, conveniently skipping over a few more pieces that could or could not be related to the tree of life, and Johnny furiously takes notes on them for his own future research. The class concludes with a reminder from Yifan for their gallery research paper.

 

"You guys go on ahead, I'm gonna talk to our instructor for a little bit about that painting." Johnny tells his friends. The rest of them say their goodbyes, and the room slowly empties, leaving just Johnny and Professor Yifan.

 

"Professor."

 

Yifan looks up from where he's putting away his laptop, surprised to see that Johnny's still there. "Yes, Mr. Seo?"

 

"Do you think that there are people in this world with secret powers?"

 

Yifan's eyes narrow. "What's the real question you want to ask me, Mr. Seo? I think you and I both know that there are people in this world with secret powers."

 

Johnny walks towards Yifan and props himself up on the table in front of him. "The way you speak about these pieces… It's almost like you were there when they were created."

 

"I have a PhD, Johnathan. I have to be detail oriented when I give my lectures."

 

Johnny squints. "That's not what I'm saying. You know about the story of the tree of life, right?"

 

"That's just an urban legend."

 

"Then explain to me why there's so many people here with secret powers. There's a piece of the heart here in NCITY. You can't deny it."

 

That seems to have gotten to him. "It's just a coincidence."

 

"It can't be a coincidence that you suddenly appear here, in front of us, in NCITY, after disappearing for four years."

 

Yifan shuts his bag, makes eye contact, and moves to leave the room. "I have another lecture to teach, Johnathan. If you're done implying things, I'll be taking my leave now."

 

"I'm onto you, Professor!"

 

"You're onto nothing."

 

Johnny watches his professor leave the classroom, satisfied with how he looks kind of uneasy. One way or another, he's going to get Professor Yifan to crack.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello helloo !  
> updates are starting to get slow as i'm realizing that this au is turning into a lot more than i originally intended, so i might try to turn it into a book. that's gonna be fun!


	4. the beach

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> { ten, taeyong, winwin, kun, lucas, jungwoo }
> 
> Mama Kun & her kids take a much needed trip to the beach, and Ten accidentally discovers something he wasn't ready for.

It really was a peaceful day at the beach, if you could ignore Lucas's screaming, Kun's laughing, and Jungwoo's worried whining. Ten peers over his sunglasses at the three boys in the ocean, squinting and flipping onto his stomach so he can get an even tan. To his left, Sicheng is completely knocked out under their umbrella, and to his right, Taeyong is playing Animal Crossing on his 3DS.

 

The only thing missing is the rest of their happy family, but as luck would have it, Johnny, Jaehyun, and the rest of their family had exams after the weekend. Maybe it was better this way, because the volume would have increased tenfold with the addition of 6 other bodies.

 

Definitely a peaceful day at the beach.

 

It's taking everything in Ten's power to not fall asleep under the sunlight, so he sits up and looks around the beach for something, anything that could keep his interest. Taeyong's too absorbed in his game, and Sicheng is snoring, so they're of no use to Ten.

 

His eyes land on what appears to be a cave less than a few minutes' walk away, and he gently pokes Sicheng's stomach until he wakes up. The boy wakes up with a snort, eyes blinking rapidly as he tries to remember where he is. For some reason, Ten is reminded of an anime character.

 

"Guys. Look, there's a cave over there. Wanna check it out?" the dancer puts on his best 'pretty eyes' to convince the two boys to join him on the adventure. Luckily enough, they agree.

 

"Should we tell the other three?" Sicheng asks, voice slightly groggy as he rubs his eyes.

 

Ten nods, standing up from his towel. He walks towards the three boys in the ocean, and with all his strength, lets out the loudest yell he possibly can.

 

"MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM! WE'RE GOING TO LOOK AT THAT CAVE OVER THERE!!!!!!!!!!!!" 

 

From the ocean, Lucas turns towards Ten, eyes shining in excitement. "I WANT TO GO! MOM! LET ME GO!"

 

But to his dismay, and to Kun's amusement, he shrieks as a wave hits him in the back and he falls.

 

Poor Lucas.

 

With permission granted, the three boys set off towards the nearby cave. It takes them about two minutes to get there, and Ten didn't really know what he was expecting other than bats and maybe tide pools.

 

What he doesn't expect is Taeyong immediately freaking out in excitement and harassing Ten to light up the area. Ten closes his eyes and concentrates, and in the palm of his hands forms a small orb of light. They gently float towards the corners of the cave, and with one swift movement, reveals a plethora of cave paintings.

 

Taeyong has launched into a full-scale art history lecture about cave paintings, and Ten's trying his best to show his interest, but he can't help but watch as Sicheng walks past them and ventures further into the cave.

 

"Taeyong hyung. Can you shut up for a second and come check this out?" Sicheng's voice echoes through the cave, and the roommates snap out of their conversation to see him standing in front of an old wooden crate. The boys immediately begin chattering about treasure hunting as they scamper over to Sicheng.

 

Sicheng bends down in front of the crate, holding it with both hands and focusing his energy on it. Rapidly, the wood ages until it can't hold its shape anymore, shrinking and collapsing.

 

"… What.. is that?' Taeyong bends down next to Sicheng and picks up what appears to be a clear orb. "This looks like those balls you can buy at Target that have glitter and water in them.. But I don't know what this is made of. Weird."

 

Ten sits down next to the two boys as Sicheng picks up a package wrapped in butcher paper. The paper itself looks fairly new, as if this crate was hidden in the last 30 years. He rips open the paper as if it's Christmas morning, and the boys go silent as they realize what they're looking at.

 

"Taeyong.. Isn't this EXO's logo..?" Ten's fingers trace over the worn leather journal, with what appears to be the logo of the Korean group etched onto the cover. His roommate peers over his shoulder, eyes widening as he recognizes the text.

 

Taeyong snatches the journal out of Ten's hands and flips through the pages. "… This isn't written in English.. Or even Korean. Or Chinese. What the hell? And aren't these their power symbols from MAMA era? Sicheng, what is this?"

 

While Taeyong and Sicheng are attempting to translate the journal, Ten's eyes land on the clear orb laying in the sand. For some reason, he feels drawn to it.

 

As if the orb is calling his name.

 

The second he touches it, he feels a rush of air hit him, and his mind is being filled with vivid images of places he doesn't know, and things he can't understand.

 

\---

 

Lyon, 06:27

 

Walking up the stairs of the cathedral. A lightbulb flickers.

 

A sense of danger. 

 

The cell phone shutting off.

 

Silence.

 

The city lights flickering slowly. 

 

Six shadows in the distance.

 

A sense of urgency rising. 

 

Walking faster.

 

The city lights going out just as fast. 

 

Footsteps echoing in the distance.

 

Running.

 

Running into a dead end.

 

Back pressed against the gate in fear.

 

A deep breath.

 

Orbs of light faintly glowing, slowly rising.

 

Six figures getting closer… 

 

A bloodcurdling scream.

 

\---

 

Ten lets out a scream and backs as far away from the orb as he possibly can, heart racing and breathing heavily. Taeyong and Sicheng snap out of their conversation to see that the orbs Ten casted have disappeared, and Ten is glowing, glowing brighter than ever before.

 

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT. TAEYONG. DID YOU SEE THAT."

 

"See what?! What happened?! Are you okay?!" Taeyong rushes over to his roommate, crouching down and holding his hands in an effort to get him to calm down.

 

"SICHENG. PLEASE TELL ME YOU SAW THAT WHEN YOU TOUCHED THE ORB."

 

Sicheng looks back to the orb, where it's laying in the sand, faintly glowing white. He picks it up. "… I'm not seeing anything. Can you explain please, Ten hyung?"

 

"I.. I saw things. It's like I was in someone else's body, I don't know who or where I was, but.. there were these people coming after me, and.. And they put the power out in the WHOLE AREA.." Ten's holding onto Taeyong tightly, trying his best to not continue to freak out. "Don’t bring that thing near me. Holy shit. What the hell was that."

 

Sicheng takes the kraft paper that held the journal and wraps up the orb. ".. I think we should go back now. We've.. We've definitely done enough exploring for the day."

 

Ten has calmed down enough to stop glowing, and the three boys exit the cave. They return to their spot on the beach, where they find Jungwoo eating a slice of watermelon, and Kun laying flat on his back with a sun hat covering his face.

 

"You guys look like you saw a ghost.. Are you okay?" Jungwoo asks, shooting the three a look of concern as he gently bumps Kun.

 

Kun sits up immediately. "Oh thank the gods, you guys are back. I was about to go looking for you."

 

"Oh shut up, you were about to fall asleep."

 

"Don't let them know that!"

 

"We're.. we're okay. We found some weird stuff in the cave." Sicheng replies, holding out the journal and the wrapped orb. "Where's Xuxi?"

 

"He won't get out of the ocean. He loves it!" Jungwoo turns towards the ocean, where his boyfriend is sitting on his ass and staring at the waves.

 

Kun offers Ten a slice of watermelon as he sits down on his towel again. "Are you okay?"

 

"Give me my phone.. I.. I need to text Johnny.."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> leave a comment if you recognize what Ten saw when he touched the orb! it's something most exols have seen before, but I added a couple of things to it. d:
> 
> ten's about to realize that he and his friends don't have secret powers for no reason.. oh man things are getting interesting!


	5. office hours

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> johnten learn the source of their secret powers.

"KRIS HYUNG! WAKE UP!" 

 

Johnny slams open the door to Professor Yifan's office and is greeted by his favorite instructor sleeping in front of an easel and an unfinished painting. The instructor wakes up with a start and glares at his favorite student, who's grinning back at him excitedly.

 

"I thought I told you not to call me that." Professor Yifan groans, rubbing his eyes and standing up to stretch. Johnny just laughs and pulls Ten into the office, closing the door behind them.

 

"Can't help it. As Ten says, once you're in the EXO family, you're in forever!" the photographer has the brightest grin on his face, in contrast to the glares he's receiving from his instructor.

 

"… Why are you here? And who is this?"

 

"This is my boyfriend Ten.. You're his bias." Johnny gestures to his tiny boyfriend hiding behind him.

 

Ten peeks out from behind Johnny and waves shyly at Professor Yifan, completely unaware that his fingers are glowing brightly. "It's an honor to meet you, umm.. Professor Yifan."

 

Yifan offers a heart-stopping smile. "Nice to meet you, Ten. Thank you for being my fan, it's an honor to be your bias."

 

Ten's blushing and stammering over his words and Johnny is reminded of their first date. It's the cutest thing he's ever seen.

 

Yifan's smile stops as he notices Ten's glowing fingers. ".. I'm sure this wasn't the only reason you wanted to meet with me, correct? Fill me in, Seo."

 

Johnny fishes out the journal and orb from his bag, and he hands them to his instructor. "Ten found these at the beach over the weekend. Kris hyung.. I don't think you can afford to hide from us anymore."

 

Yifan goes cold as he recognizes the items in his hands. He opens the journal, fingers tracing over the various sketches and notes. The orb is still glowing in his lap.

 

"Professor, can you explain why the orb keeps calling out to me? It's like.. I want to touch it, but I don't want to see all those crazy visions again." Ten asks, and Yifan looks up at him in shock.

 

"What did you see?"

 

"It was like I was seeing things through someone else's eyes.. I think I was in Europe? And I was running away from six figures.. And the power went out and then everything went red.."

 

Yifan looks up at him incredulously. "… I found Baekhyun in Europe…"

 

"Woah, woah, woah, hold the phone." Johnny chimes in, "What do you mean you found Baekhyun in Europe?"

 

Yifan sighs. "I guess I should start from the beginning, shouldn't I? Are you ready for the real story of how the universe was created?"

 

\-----

 

My first memory is waking up in the branches of the tree of life. Suho was the one who found me, and he welcomed me with open arms. 

 

Shortly after my awakening, I discovered that I could levitate. Suho told me that I was born to protect the tree of life, as he was born to nurture it. I spent the next two weeks watching him use his powers, and through his guidance, I learned to use my own.

 

The rest of our members were born shortly after that, and before I knew it I had an elite force on my side protecting the tree of life from evils. The next few thousand years were relatively peaceful, and passed by in an instant. 

 

One day, I was resting alongside Suho on the top of the tree of life, and as we were stargazing we noticed one of the planets explode in a bright red blaze. He and I looked at each other, and we knew that our peaceful days were over.

 

\----

 

"…You were totally into Suho, weren't you?" Johnny has a dumb grin on his face and Yifan has to resist the urge to commit an act of violence.

 

Ten's covering his face in shock, fingers glowing softly. "I can't believe Krisho is real…"

 

"Both of you be quiet, I'm not done here."

 

\---

 

Over the next ten years, we watched as the planets around us were blown up in bright red, and we knew that we would be next. We named these red explosions 'the red force,' and as one could guess, they were after the heart of the tree of life. 

 

That was the first difficult meeting of my life. The twelve of us decided that the best course of action would be to split the heart of the tree of life, and hide the pieces across the galaxy. Before we did this, though, the tree created for us twelve orbs, and within those orbs were special weapons meant to be used only in the darkest times.

 

The first time I tried to leave EXO Planet with my piece of the heart, I didn't last five minutes on the next planet before the piece flew straight back to EXO Planet. I discovered that the pieces would have to remain on the same planet, so we all decided we would travel as far away as possible so the red force wouldn't be able to find us. 

 

I remember the night we landed in South Korea, all of us felt a sharp pang in our chests and fell to the ground. I looked up to the sky and I watched as one of the tiniest stars turned a bright red and faded out. That's how I knew EXO Planet was gone forever.

 

Next thing we knew, they were here, attacking us at every moment, trying to get us to crack and reveal the locations to the pieces of the heart. But thanks to the orbs, we were able to fend them off every single time. 

 

To confuse them, we split up and hid in various countries around the world.. one of the worst decisions we could ever make. 

 

However, in 1999, they finally caught wind of our weakness and attacked us during an eclipse. Their powers were at their peak potential, and even with our orbs, we were no match for them. One by one, they cracked our orbs and beat us within an inch of our lives, except for me. Using my last bit of strength, I was able to escape, but my cracked orb ensured that I would never be able to fight back again.

 

I found Yixing and Luhan in Yannan, and my heart broke for the first of ten times. Luhan couldn't remember who he was, or even who we were. Yixing, however, remembered everything, as his power was healing, so there wasn't much damage that could be done to him in the first place.

 

I brought the rest of them back to South Korea, and Yixing and I spent the next few years teaching our team their names and hiding the cracked orbs. We chose not to remind them of their powers, since there really wasn't anything else we could do now that the locations of the pieces of the heart were lost forever. 

 

Somehow, we ended up debuting as EXO, and next thing we knew, we were in people's faces worldwide. Yixing and I helped build the group's concept, using bits and pieces of our story, which no one seemed to know at the time.

 

People with 'secret powers' started appearing in the news more frequently, and I had a feeling that the pieces of the heart were starting to look for each other again. Yixing and I agreed that I would leave EXO to try and find the pieces of the heart and information about the red force, and he would protect the rest of the group in the event that something went wrong. Luhan and Zitao later decided to leave the group as well, to pursue their own music careers, apparently, but they didn't know the real reason I left. 

 

\----

 

"… So wait, do you have wings?"

 

Ten smacks Johnny on the arm. "We are literally standing in front of a celestial being and you ask him if he has wings?"

 

Yifan pinches the bridge of his nose. "I'm not.. I'm not a 'celestial being,' I'm just.. I'm just Kris now."

 

"So I can call you Kris hyung!"

 

"Johnny!"

 

"Fine. You can call me Kris hyung, just don't say that in class." Yifan sighs. "Whatever the case, it looks like somehow you managed to repair the orb. Ten, what kind of powers do you have?"

 

Ten closes his eyes and concentrates, and a small glowing orb appears in his palm. Johnny's jaw drops.

 

"I guess my power is.. light." the dancer replies softly.

 

Yifan brings his attention back to the orb. "So this must be Baekhyun's orb, then. It looks like the only way we'll be able to repair the orbs is to give them to you kids. Seo, do you have powers?"

 

"I don't, but almost all of our friends do. Like… at least 8 of us that I know about."

 

Yifan chokes on his drink. "What? Really? Eight??"

 

"Yeah. My favorite hyung can control the moon."

 

"Johnny, he can't control the moon."

 

"Yes he can."

 

Ten smacks Johnny on the arm again. Yifan can feel the headache coming.

 

"Geez, Seo, You weren't kidding when you said there's a lot of people here with secret powers. I guess it's up to you kids to find and repair the orbs."

 

"We're not kids!" Johnny whines, "But would it be a good idea to repair the orbs? What if the red force comes after us?"

 

"They're going to come after you anyway because you've activated the first orb. They already know you're here. So… you're going to have to stop them. Just leave everything with me for now, though, since it'll be safer here."

 

Ten can feel the fear rising in his throat. "How are we going to know what the red force even look like?"

 

"I haven't seen them in over 20 years so I can't tell you, but they were.. You know those supernatural creatures that Americans love to make movies about? Think that, but six of them."

 

Johnny's jaw drops again. "So… you're telling me… we're going to get attacked by MONSTERS?"

 

"Yes."

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *baekhyun voice* it ain't over yet.. 
> 
> I think I'm going to end the AU on twitter soon and switch to an all-narration format for the sake of convenience. i still have to think about it tho ~ we have at least one more chapter coming up!


	6. a mission disguised as a date (jeno/jaemin)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> jeno and jaemin are sent on a mission to examine something for doyoung

Jeno is standing outside of Jaemin's house, tapping his foot impatiently as he waits for his boyfriend to wake up. Five missed calls and ten unread messages later, he finds himself jumping the fence to the backyard, and letting himself into the house through the back door.

 

Jaemin's parents have already left for work, so it's fine. Plus, Jaemin's parents love him, so Jeno is positive that they wouldn't mind him jumping the fence every now and then. So it's double fine.

 

He walks through their home until he reaches Jaemin's bedroom, the closed door littered with various polaroids of his family, Jeno, and Doyoung. He smiles softly as he opens the door, but the smile is wiped off of his face immediately as he's greeted with Jaemin _fully awake and on his phone._

 

"Nana."

 

Jaemin looks up from his phone and shrieks as he spots Jeno, rising a few inches from his bed. Jeno glares at him.

 

"H-hi my love! Good morning! I… I didn't know you called!" Jaemin laughs nervously as he comes back down to earth.

 

"Oh please, don't try to play dumb. I know you're on Instagram watching makeup tutorials."

 

"… You know nothing!"

 

Jeno jumps onto the bed next to his boyfriend, and snatches the phone out of his hands. Sure enough, he's hundreds of posts deep in the kbeauty tag on Instagram.

 

"Do you want to go on a date today or not, Nana?" Jeno looks at his boyfriend pointedly.

 

Jaemin's expression is blank as he processes what Jeno just said, and then his eyes light up and he's out of bed immediately. "I'M GONNA GO SHOWER NOW AND THEN WE CAN FILM A GET READY WITH ME! HOLD ON!"

 

\---

 

Two hours later, they're standing in front of SMTOWN museum while Jaemin is narrating their day to a camera.

 

"So," Jaemin starts, "Jeno was telling me about how there's going to be some new trainees introduced to his label soon! Can you give us any more info, my love?"

 

Jaemin points the camera at his boyfriend. Jeno quickly makes eye contact with it and then looks back up at Jaemin.

 

"I can't really say, but apparently there's two coming from China and two coming from America. We'll see."

 

Jaemin points the camera towards himself, and covers his mouth in excitement. "Watch my man be part of the next EXO. Y'all ain't even ready. Okay, let's get it!"

 

Jaemin turns off the camera and holds out his hand for Jeno to hold, smiling brightly. Jeno pinches the bridge of his nose, sighing and hiding his small smile. Sure, his boyfriend's vlogs can be cringey, but what can he say? Jeno _loves_ that cringey shit.

 

"How much do you make off of these videos?" Jeno asks absentmindedly.

 

"Nothing yet! I feel like once I turn 20 I'll start making a lot more money and like.. get invited to events. I'm almost at 700 thousand subscribers though!"

 

Jeno squeezes his hand gently. "I'm proud of you, Nana. Props to you for doing what you love."

 

Jaemin beams back at him. "We're both doing what we love! And it looks like you'll be doing what you love with four more people pretty soon here!"

 

"I hope they know Korean."

 

"If they don't, you can teach them! Or I can teach them. Let's all hang out together."

 

"Sure thing. C'mon, let's go inside now."

 

\---

 

Jaemin is having the time of his life inside SMTOWN Museum. He's scampering from exhibit to exhibit, recording everything with his camera, and he's doing a pretty good job of not floating so Jeno doesn't have to hold him down.

 

"JENO, OH MY GOD, IT'S GIRLS GENERATION. CAN YOU GET A PIC OF ME WITH THEM OH MY GOD I'M GONNA FLOAT!" Jaemin is bouncing up and down excitedly as he poses with the mannequins of their outfits. Jeno is extremely endeared as he whips out his phone and snaps a few pictures.

 

"Why are you so cute, Nana?" Jeno moves towards him and wraps him in a hug, Jaemin laughing softly at the contact.

 

"Iiiiii have no idea what you're talking about. YOU'RE the cute one." Jeno shakes his head.

 

"Bitch shut up!! You are!"

 

They lock arms and continue to walk through the museum, only to stop and gape before they even make it into the EXO exhibit. Jeno can feel Jaemin starting to float, so he holds him down.

 

"… Your camera is off, right?" Jeno whispers to Jaemin, who nods and holds onto him even tighter.

 

There's a figure standing in the exhibit, directly in front of where Jeno thought the orbs were. The two strange-looking orbs have been replaced with 8 brighter ones, to his surprise.

 

"… Lay hyung?"

 

The figure turns around, and Jeno and Jaemin are greeted with the China Sheep himself. Jaemin covers his mouth in shock, all brightness from earlier replaced by anxiety as it sinks in that he's face to face with his ultimate bias.

 

"Why are you here? What if a fan sees you?" Jeno asks, concerned eyes meeting Lay's gentle smile.

 

"Well, there's two fans who just saw me, isn't there?" He gestures to the two boys in front of him. "You must be Jeno's boyfriend, Jaemin. Nice to meet you! He talks a lot about you."

 

Jaemin takes a step back. Jeno tightens his grip on his boyfriend so he doesn't float into the ceiling.

 

"It's.. It's nice to meet you too.. Um.." Jaemin shakes his head and bows.

 

Lay laughs. "You can call me Lay hyung too. Its okay!"

 

"You're his bias, hyung. That's why he's freaking out." Jeno snickers. "So why are you here?"

 

"I felt like something was off, so I asked the staff to switch out a few of the objects in the exhibit." Lay gestures to the eight fake orbs in front of them. "This suits the concept much better than those two faded ones, doesn't it?"

 

Jeno nods, noting the strange look on Lay's face. Jaemin finally gathers enough strength to contribute to the conversation.

 

"Lay hyung.. Can you sign my phone?" he's turning pink as he offers his phone and a sharpie to Lay, unable to make eye contact from the embarrassment.

 

Lay pats his shoulder gently as he takes the items. "Sure. Say, Jaemin, why don't you come to practice with me and Jeno some time? Jeno said you're into dance. I could teach you some stuff as well!"

 

Jeno laughs at his boyfriend, who looks like he saw a ghost. Surprisingly enough, Jaemin isn't floating. He holds his hand anyway just in case he decides to faint.

 

\-----

 

"Where are we, Jeno?" Jaemin's shoving the camera in his face again, as if the last two hours didn't completely shake him.

 

"Café Jekyll. I really.. really like the interior of this place. It's so soft and modern, with more than enough windows to let in that natural lighting." Jeno flashes a smile at the camera.

 

"Are you sure you want to be an idol? You sound like you should be an interior designer." Jaemin replies, both of them breaking into laughter at their humor.

 

Jaemin turns the camera towards himself, getting right up in his nose. "Okay so the café is really cute and all, but the workers.. they look really scary. Like.. like they're not of this earth of something."

 

He tries to point the camera towards the register, but he gets scared and turns it off as he notices one of the baristas walking towards them with their drinks.

 

The barista is extremely handsome, but in a threatening way. His smile pierces through Jaemin and Jeno, and both of the boys feel their heartbeats rising.

 

"Here are your drinks - one iced vanilla latte with almond milk, and one yuzu onija." he speaks smoothly and softly as he places their drinks in front of him. Their eyes are burning a hole into him.  "My name is Hakyeon if you need anything. Enjoy!"

 

About a minute later, Jeno and Jaemin come back to reality. They look at each other in shock.

 

"…What just happened." Jeno's face is blank as he tries to process everything.

 

"I don't know. It's like I.. I was under a trance or something." Jaemin is still looking in the direction their barista went. Jeno smacks him gently.

 

"Oh my gods, you too?! What was up with that?!"

 

".. I swear to the gods there was something hiding under his shirt." Jaemin turns back to the table, picking up his latte and rapidly sipping it.

 

".. We should get out of here. Wanna go shopping?”

 

Jeno doesn’t even get to finish his sentence before Jaemin is pulling him out of café jekyll and away from the scary b

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi the au is starting to.. REALLY PICK UP over on twitter so i highly recommend following it over there ! my @ is _seojohnny ♥


	7. ncity art museum (johnten + doyoung + mark)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> johnten get a fright when they visit ncity art museum, and a surprise waits for them at cafe hyde
> 
> (why can't i be bothered to write a proper summary smh)

"So, where are we at, Mark?"

 

Mark looks like he's about to cry as he looks directly into the camera. He says nothing. Johnny shoots Doyoung a glare and brings an arm around his little brother's shoulder.

 

"Be gentle with our one and only Mark today, okay? Our brother and his friend are leaving him to become idols in Korea." Johnny pouts at the camera, exaggerating his cuteness as much as possible, and Doyoung immediately turns away in disgust.

 

"Ten, where are we?"

 

Ten flashes a smile at the camera before turning around and gesturing to the building in front of them, in the most dramatic way possible. "Here we are.. NCITY Art Museum! Home of the works of the famous Kriscasso!"

 

"Who?"

 

"I'm kidding. Kriscasso isn't an artist." Ten shoves his face into the camera. "Are you ready to see a shit ton of euro-centric art and get irritated that there's little to no Asian art!"

 

Doyoung turns the camera towards himself, expression completely blank. "I am absolutely overjoyed. Let's get it!"

 

Doyoung turns off the camera, and the two catch up to Johnny and Mark, who are a few feet in front of them looking at a map installation. Being a weekend, the museum is packed with people, a nice mix of conversations and footsteps filling their ears.

 

"Where do you guys want to start? I mean, we're here for more than our mission, right?" Johnny asks Doyoung, who nods.

 

"Is there a specific era of art history you wanted to focus your papers on?" Mark asks both of them, "This museum mostly has stuff from the 1900s on, so it's all kind of.. contemporary, I guess."

 

"Wow, Mark, you really know your stuff!" Ten praises the youngest, who shakes his head and scratches the back of his neck shyly.

 

Doyoung says nothing and just starts walking in one direction, the other three following obediently like a bunch of ducklings following their mother. All three of them bump into him as he stops to take an obligatory vlogger shot of the exhibit.

 

The sign above the exhibit entrance reads 'NCITY ARTIFACTS', and as they walk inside, they are greeted with a series of glass cases and paintings dated to over a hundred years ago.

 

Mark is silent as he walks to the center of the room, mouth slightly agape as he takes in the scenery around him. Doyoung points the camera towards him, eager to capture the sense of childlike wonder. He asks Mark to give him a short history of NCITY, which he happily obliges.

 

Johnny and Ten circle around the room, fingers interlaced until Johnny finds things he _has_ to take notes on, or until Johnny finds things he _has_ to post for #johntography. Ten can't help but be endeared by his boyfriend.

 

The two are lost in their own world until they spot the six orbs they were looking for. To their surprise, while the rest of the artifacts in the room have 2-5 people examining each one, the orbs themselves only had one person in front. Not wanting to disturb that person's mood, they approach with caution.

 

"Beautiful, aren't they?"

 

Johnny and Ten freeze. The person looks up from the orbs towards the couple, gaze piercing straight through Ten's heart.

 

He's beautiful, too, but in a scary way. Deathly pale skin, chestnut-colored hair loosely swept back, tantalizing maroon eyes. Johnny and Ten can't bring themselves to say anything, as if they're under a spell.

 

"It says in the description that these orbs were found while someone was scuba diving in the ocean. No one knows what they're for. Strange, don't you think?" the man turns back to the orbs, tracing his finger along the words in the description box.

 

Something snaps in Ten. and next thing he knows he's shoving his hands in his pockets, fear rising in his throat. Johnny grips the dancer's arm tightly.

 

"You two look like you would enjoy a café." the man's attention is on the couple now, and he's smiling. He takes a business card out of his jacket and holds it out to Johnny, locking eyes with the photographer. "Hongbin. I work at Café Hyde. Stop by some time, we'd love to have both of you."

 

Johnny stammers out a _t-thank you_  as he accepts the card, involuntarily blushing and unable to make eye contact. Hongbin winks at the two of them as he bows and takes his leave. The couple stare after him, and once he's out of sight the two snap out of it immediately.

 

Ten and Johnny look at each other. "What the actual _fuck_ was that, Johnathan. What was up with that guy."

 

"He had you under a spell too, right? What the hell just happened?" Johnny looks down at the business card in his hand. It's a deep maroon color, with the address to Café Hyde in white.

 

"That can't have been normal. He must have powers of some sort." Ten shivers.

 

Doyoung and Mark finally catch up  with the couple, the vlogger turning off the camera as soon as he spots the orbs.

 

"Is this what we were looking for?" he asks, snapping a picture and sending it to the squad for review.

 

Mark looks towards the couple, who are visibly shaken about something. "… Are you guys okay?"

 

Doyoung walks straight up to Johnny and slaps him. Johnny takes a step back and shoots a hurt look at the vlogger.

 

"What the hell was that for?!"

 

"You look like you saw a ghost. It's just a bunch of balls, Johnathan."

 

Johnny drags a hand across his face. "No, Doyoung, it's not the .. It's not the balls. There was someone here, and he said things to us, but.. I can't remember a word he said." He holds out the business card for Doyoung. "He gave us this, though."

 

Ten shivers again. "Have you ever met someone who was so attractive it was downright _terrifying?_ "

 

"Can't relate, I've never been attracted to someone." Doyoung examines the business card, eyes lighting up as he recognizes the café's name. "Oh shit, Café Hyde! I keep seeing them on Instagram. We should go once we're done here!"

 

"Come on, guys! We still have a bunch of exhibits to go through." Mark wedges his way between the couple, locking arms with both of them.

 

"Yeah, I didn't see anything I wanted to write about in here. Let's go!" Doyoung takes off, walking in another random direction, and Mark pulls the couple with him.

 

\----

 

Café Hyde's aesthetic is the last thing Johnny ever expected from a café.

 

Dark chocolate walls, cherry wood furniture, and a neon red sign spelling out "Café Hyde" in cursive. Moody music is softly playing in the background.

 

[stzzy. - beats to sleep to (lofi hip-hop mix)](https://youtu.be/AJvCnFqSViA?list=PLmECfcu4bBSvpMY9OHjimXgMIwKMiyY7r)

 

Johnny feels like he just stepped back into his high school phase, and he doesn't know if that's a good thing.

 

"I can't believe I never noticed this café before," Doyoung says to his camera, "I literally live less than five minutes away."

 

"Maybe you can study here with Yuta and Jaehyun hyungs!" Mark adds, worming his way into the background of Doyoung's shot. "I really like the aesthetic of this place, too. Maybe I'll bring Lucas hyung here as well.."

 

Doyoung and Mark are immediately filming all of the pastries, while Johnny and Ten stand behind them and look the the menu above them. Johnny touches his boyfriend's arm lightly to get his attention

 

"Hang on, I have to pee. I'll be right back."

 

Ten's examining the menu closely, but his eyes drift to the barista directly underneath. Who just so happens to be just as beautiful as the guy they met at NCITY Art Museum: a dirty blonde fringe, gray contact lenses, and what quite possibly could be the friendliest smile he's ever seen.

 

What the hell? Wait.

 

"Sanghyuk?"

 

The barista looks up, meeting Ten's confused gaze and brightening immediately as he realizes who it is. "Oh my god! Ten!" he steps away from the counter and meets the dancer with a hug.

 

"You didn't tell me you worked _here!_ Oh my gods I love it. But it doesn't match your aesthetic at all!" Ten bounces up and down excitedly as Doyoung and Mark look over in confusion.

 

"You two know each other?" Mark asks. Sanghyuk and Ten nod quickly.

 

"We're study buddies!" Ten exclaims. "We sit together in our political science class!"

 

Doyoung breaks into a wide gummy smile and holds up his camera. "So you won't mind if I steal him for an interview?"

 

Sanghyuk scratches his head shyly. "Only if you guys plan to order something.."

 

"Sure, if you can give us a friends discount!" Doyoung jokes. Sanghyuk's eyebrow twitches as he smiles, and Mark swears he just saw a tiny puff of smoke come out of his nose.

 

"He's kidding, we're gonna order stuff regardless. Oh, here comes my boyfriend now!" Ten points towards Johnny, making his way from the bathroom over to the four.

 

Johnny squints at the boy standing so close to Ten. "Who's this?"

 

Sanghyuk bows. "Han Sanghyuk, at your service. I'm Ten's friend in his PoliSci class."

 

It's friendly and polite, but something doesn't seem right. Johnny lets it slide for now, but he throws an arm around Ten's shoulder to assert his dominance, just in case. "What did you want to get, love?"

 

\---

 

All previous worries are forgotten as the group settle in to their spot on the couch, drinks in hand as they watch the activity outside the window. Sanghyuk brings over their pastries, giving them an extra chocolate croissant to share.

 

"It's on the house," he says, smile radiating warmth. Suddenly Johnny wants to squish his cheeks.

 

"You know, maybe this dude isn't all that bad." the photographer remarks as he takes a sip of his green tea, immediately overwhelmed by the delicious flavors. Ten pokes his cheek.

 

"Can you stop acting straight for like five seconds? He doesn't have a crush on me, dork." Ten giggles as his boyfriend actively denies any such thing.

 

The three sit in silence for a few minutes, enjoying their company, until Doyoung returns from his interview with Sanghyuk. He plops himself down on the couch, letting out a deep sigh, and reaches for his yuzu onija.

 

"He actually took me into the back and let me film their pastry chef making cake. It was so cool, guys." Doyoung has another gummy smile on his face.

 

"So what did you find out about this place, hyung?" Mark asks, putting down his hot chocolate.

 

"Well, it turns out this place has been here since Spring 2012, and they only have six employees in total. There's Sanghyuk and Hongbin, who you guys met earlier, they're part timers, and then their pastry chef is named Jaehwan." Doyoung replies.

 

Ten takes a bit of the chocolate croissant, and is immediately floored. "Oh my gods, this is so good. I bet Kun would love to work with this Jaehwan dude."

 

 

Doyoung nods. "The other three apparently moved to Korea to manage their sister location, which they opened maybe four years ago? He didn't tell me what it's called, though. But what’s weird is that the other café fits Sanghyuk’s aesthetic a lot more, whereas the other three should probably be working here instead.. Apparently they’re all very… sensual.”

 

Mark chokes on his hot chocolate. “Uhhhhh, what do you mean, sensual?”

 

“You’re over 18, you should know!” Ten laughs, poking Mark in the side. The younger boy squeaks in embarrassment.

 

Suddenly, Johnny is a little suspicious. This timeline seems a little familiar, but he can't put his finger on where he's heard it before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> shitty conclusion, i know
> 
> but the narration ends on twitter with johnny being too shy to ask ten if he wants to stay the night since taeil is over at kun's apartment LOL
> 
> aaaaand i don't know if anyone's caught on yet but it looks like vixx are being introduced to the story.. i wonder what their role is..


	8. cafe hyde (jaeyong + doyoung + yuta)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> things get suspicious at cafe hyde

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hi hi i really recommend reading at least THIS PART of the au before you read this chapter!! 
> 
> https://twitter.com/_seojohnny/status/1024456104695062529

Jaehyun has one foot in the door and he's immediately sensing something is off. The rest of the team don't notice, because they're overwhelmed by the large amount of people and the beautiful pastries.

 

"Ah, welcome! Did you stop by for the event?" the pastry chef greets them over the loud chatter of the café, walking towards the four with a silver platter of petit gateaus in his hand. Taeyong's eyes are sparkling as he selects a tiny fruit tart, thanking him repeatedly.

 

Doyoung looks at the pastry chef in surprise. "Nice to see you again Jaehwan. Honestly, I didn't even know you were having an event. I just wanted to bring my friends over here to check out your awesome pastries."

 

"Oh! Well, Hongbinnie had a great idea to promote our café with these petit gateaus."

 

Yuta stops observing the café momentarily to contribute to the conversation. "The what?"

 

"Mini pastries. Do you want some?"  Jaehwan offers the platter to Yuta, whose eyes widen at the colorful selection.

 

"Holy shit. Yes!" Yuta immediately takes the mini frosted pink donut, and he and Taeyong make their way over to the pastry counter to gawk at the variety.

 

Jaehwan offers a smile to Jaehyun and Doyoung. "Well, better get back to work. Take your time, and enjoy the food!"

 

As he walks away, Jaehyun pokes Doyoung and whispers to him. "Something doesn't feel right about this place."

 

"I was thinking the same thing. I swear Jaehwan got a nose job.. or some sort of plastic surgery, to be honest."

 

"What? No, that's not what I'm talking about. I think my orb is here."

 

Doyoung turns to the poet, eyes wide. "It is?! Do you see it?!"

 

Jaehyun shakes his head. "Why would they just display something they stole?"

 

"I don't know. How would we even be able to get it? Maybe.."

 

"… _Maybe_ we shouldn't be discussing this while we're in enemy territory. Come on, let's order some drinks to go. I really do not like the vibe of this place." Jaehyun shudders, discomfort growing as he can feel someone's eyes on him, but can't identify whose.

 

Taeyong comes right up to them and grabs Jaehyun's arm, quickly dragging him to the pastry counter. "Jaehyunnieeee, can we get these?" He points to the coffee jelly and various macarons, looking up at his boyfriend with adorable puppy eyes. Jaehyun just sighs and hands him his credit card.

 

Doyoung snorts. "Jung Jaehyun, you are whipped with a capital W."

 

"Don’t remind me."

 

\----

 

"Oh, you have GOT to be yanking my chain right now. You're pulling my leg. Watering my crops. Busting my- "

 

 _"JOHNATHAN, SHUT UP."_ Jaehyun slams a hand over the photographer's mouth before he can spit out another dumb phrase. "I'm not kidding. My orb is there. I felt it as soon as we walked in, along with.. some sort of weird presence."

 

Johnny and Taeil's living room is currently filled with café drinks and colorful pastries, as they all sit around the coffee table. Johnny and Ten were in the middle of watching a movie when Yuta started aggressively knocking on the door, shouting at the photographer to open the door before _'CRAZY SHIT'_ happened.

 

"Did you guys actually see the orbs?" Taeil asks, rubbing his eyes as he desperately tries to wake up from his nap. Taeyong offers him a mini donut, which he gratefully accepts.

 

"Unfortunately, no. I guess mine wasn't there either, or Yuta's, because Jaehyunnie is the only one who felt something." Doyoung replies, leaning back into the couch behind him.

 

"So we have to go talk to Kris hyung again, don't we?" Ten asks, lifting his head from Johnny's shoulder. "Should it be just you and me again, or all eight of us?"

 

"I feel like he's gonna kill me if all eight of us go in there, to be honest. His office _is_ pretty small after all." Johnny remarks.

 

Taeyong freezes mid-sip at his spot on the arm of the couch. "You mean.. I actually have to _talk_ to Galaxy Hyung."

 

"How many names does this guy have? Can we just stick to calling him Professor Yifan?" Yuta mumbles. No one hears him.

 

"Well, Yongie, you don't have powers, so I think you're fine. He knows you anyway since you guys have a class with him." Ten replies. Taeyong breathes a sigh of relief and sinks further into the couch.

 

Doyoung lets go of his coffee mid-air and sighs, holding his head in his hands. The coffee remains levitating in its spot. "Are we seriously about to enter a war? This is ridiculous, don't you think?"

 

Yuta rolls over and lays his face against the carpet, pulling out his phone to check his Twitter. "Jaehyunnie, you should write a story about this. I bet it would get a lot of views." Jaehyun considers throwing a pillow at him, but he doesn't.

 

All six of them go silent as they hear a light snore. They look over to Taeil, who happens to be sitting in an armchair, arms folded as he sleeps.

 

"Poor guy. How many all-nighters has he been pulling to work on his capstone?" Taeyong asks Johnny, voice dropping down in volume so they don't wake up the architect.

 

"Honestly, I feel like it's once a week at this point. I hope there's a full moon soon so he can restore his energy. We should get him a bath bomb or something." Johnny sighs.

 

"He's been spending a lot of time with Kun ge too, right?" Ten asks, getting up and throwing a blanket over Taeil. Johnny nods.

 

"Are they actually a thing? Or do these Lucas and Jungwoo kids just like causing trouble?" Jaehyun asks his boyfriend.

 

Taeyong giggles. "It's more Lucas who likes causing trouble. Jungwoo just happens to be the one who gets dragged into helping him all the time."

 

"Apparently they had a lot of fun, though. As soon as he got home, Taeil hyung went straight to his room and knocked out." Johnny adds.

 

Yuta rolls onto his back. "Going to my room and knocking out sounds like a great idea. Doyoungie, Jaehyunnie, can we go home?"

 

The roommates exchange glances between each other and the now-empty plate of pastries on the coffee table, silently agreeing.

 

"Can you just email Kris hyung and CC us on it? Keep us updated." Doyoung stands up and starts cleaning up the table, poking Yuta with his foot as he moves past. The designer whines in response.

 

Jaehyun looks over to Taeyong. "Ready to go?"

 

Johnny and Ten say their goodbyes to the group, and once peace has been restored to the apartment, the photographer immediately drags Ten into his room. He pulls out his laptop and starts typing furiously, no doubt writing an email to Professor Yifan.

 

"All those pastries made me tired," Ten murmurs, collapsing onto Johnny's bed and stretching out like a dog. "Mind if I take a nap?"

 

"Of course I don't mind, love," Johnny replies, "I'll join you after I send this email."

 

"Mmkay. Don't take too long, I'm lonely."

 

\---

 

Saturday, October 6, 2018 14:22PM

From: <syoungho @ unct.ncity.edu>

To: <yifan @ unct.ncity.edu>

 

Subject: (cowboy emoji)

 

Hi Kris Hyung (cowboy emoji) (dragon emoji)

 

I have updates for you! When can I stop by ?

 

Your fave student,

Johnny Seo (sprout emoji) (eyeballs emoji)

 

\---

 

Saturday, October 6, 2018 14:25PM

From: <yifan @ unct.ncity.edu>

To: <syoungho @ unct.ncity.edu>

 

Subject: RE: (cowboy emoji)

 

 

Don't send it here. Send it to my personal email: galaxyfanfan @ gmail

 

Professor Yifan

PhD, Art History

 

\---

 

 

Saturday, October 6, 2018 14:40PM

From: <johntography @ gmail>

To: <galaxyfanfan @ gmail>

 

Subject: (cowboy emoji)(cowboy emoji)

 

LOL KRIS HYUNG I LOVE YOUR EMAIL

 

Anyway here's your updates!

 

So there's a café in town called Café Hyde, and they have a sister café in Korea called Café Jekyll that Doyoung's brother went to.

 

Apparently, the people who work here are very weird, like they have some kind of supernatural vibe to them. Ten and I met one when we went to NCITY Art Museum to find the orbs.. And guess what they were there, but..

 

<link> they got stolen… :(

 

So! My friend Jaehyun, who has electricity powers, went there with the rest of our friends (Doyoung, Yuta, Taeyong) and he could sense his orb there! So here's what we're thinking..

 

The Red Force are probably these six guys who work at Cafes Jekyll and Hyde, and they have six of the orbs for now. What do we do :( We can't just ask them nicely..

 

Your fave student,

Johnny Seo (sprout emoji) (eyeballs emoji)

 

\----

 

Saturday, October 6, 2018 14:55PM

From: <galaxyfanfan @ gmail>

To: <johntography @ gmail>

 

Subject: RE: (cowboy emoji)(cowboy emoji)

 

oh that's just wonderful fantastic of course they got stolen and of course those assholes have a café here

 

well good news for you, I donated those orbs to ncity art museum but three of them were fakes I commissioned to be made

 

they probably have sehun and tao's orbs as well, dammit

I don't know how we're going to get them back but I'm sure you kids can figure out a way

 

I think I hid a couple more orbs around town but I'm gonna have to tell you where they are in person so come to my office hours soon

 

also

I've been watching astronomy lately and you guys are going to have to be careful

something big is happening soon, something that hasn't happened since before you guys were born

 

good luck

yifan

 

\----

 

 

Saturday, October 6, 2018 15:02PM

From: <johntography @ gmail>

To: <galaxyfanfan @ gmail>

 

Subject: RE: RE: (cowboy emoji)(cowboy emoji)

 

what? what do you mean?? something big??

 

kris hyung I'm scared

 

\----

 

Saturday, October 6, 2018 15:10PM

From: <johntography @ gmail>

To: <galaxyfanfan @ gmail>

 

Subject: RE: RE: RE: (cowboy emoji)(cowboy emoji)

 

kris hyung??????????

 

\----

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost halfway through the story i think.. it's just getting more and more complex as i go oops
> 
> thank you as always for tagging along with me on this crazy ass journey ♥ i really appreciate all your support! feedback is always welcome and i hope to give you more and more interesting content as time goes on :D see you soon!


	9. blood moon countdown

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> the blood moon; a time in ncity where nothing makes sense.
> 
> will our heroes gain powers? will they get the orbs back from the red force?

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 13 DAYS

PROFESSOR YIFAN'S OFFICE

 

"Kris hyung!!!"

 

Johnny slams open the door to Professor Yifan's office, a look of worry and desperation on his face. Yifan peers from behind his easel and squints at him.

 

"What happened now, Seo?"

 

Taeil pushes past Johnny and waves to the instructor. "Nice to meet you, Professor. I'm Taeil, his roommate, and I'm the one with moon powers."

 

Yifan raises an eyebrow. "Nice to meet you, Taeil. How can I help?"

 

Johnny looks between the instructor and his roommate, offended that he's being ignored. Taeil stabs him in the side to try and get him to relax.

 

"I was wondering if you could tell us more about the blood moon.. The last one happened during my first semester here, and I don't know why, but I felt controlled that night."

 

Yifan blinks in surprise. "I.. I don't think I have an actual explanation for you. I remember Baekhyun had a strong connection to the moon as well, but since we were so far away from Earth, it was more that he was connected to all the moons."

 

"So you're telling us there wasn't a blood moon since you landed on Earth??" Johnny asks, "That doesn't explain how Sicheng and Jungwoo woke up with powers during the last one. You've been here almost fifty years, there has to have been another blood moon!"

 

Yifan racks his brain for answers, and his eyes widen as he realizes. "There was a blood moon during the 90s, actually. I think we were in China at the time.. Baekhyun was weak and we had to protect him. The red force actually attacked us that night, and it was an easy fight until one of them turned into a wolf."

 

"………. Werewolves are real?" Johnny's voice is close to a whisper now. Taeil squeezes his arm gently to calm him down.

 

"Yeah, they're real, but I think he's the only one we know of right now. But he was really, really strong, to the point where he had knocked down maybe four of us, so Luhan had to hold him back while Tao froze time, and Kai and I had to get everyone out of there."

 

The photographer's eyes are sparkling. "This is so cool. Holy shit."

 

Yifan glares at him. "No, it's not cool. Suho almost died that night. Lay was watching over him for hours."

 

Sensing that they hit a sensitive topic, Taeil chimes in. "Honestly, I've felt stronger during the blood moon, but I don't really have anything to compare it to since I don't really have anything to fight, you know? It just feels like a lot of pent-up energy that I don't know how to release."

 

Yifan looks towards Taeil, then gets up and walks to his art-supply closet. He returns with Baekhyun's orb, which glows faintly as he holds it in Taeil's direction. "Do you feel anything when you see this, Taeil?"

 

Taeil takes the orb from Yifan, and his eyes begin to glow. The glow from the orb brightens until it matches his eyes, and as he closes his eyes there's a bright flash of light, blinding everyone in the room.

 

When everyone reopens their eyes, in Taeil's hands is a white scepter, with a large crescent moon on the end.

 

Johnny's jaw drops.

 

"WHAT THE ACTUAL HELL IS GOING ON KRIS HYUNG EXPLAIN PLEASE I'M FREAKING OUT THIS CAN'T BE HAPPENING OH MY GOD I HAVE TO TELL THE OTHERS SDJFLSDFJ-"

 

Yifan clamps a hand over Johnny's mouth. "RELAX. This is just Baekhyun's weapon. Well… Kind of."

 

Taeil looks towards Yifan, eerily calm. "Something is off, though. I feel.. incomplete."

 

Johnny pulls Yifan's hand off of his mouth.

 

"TEN!"

 

\-----

 

 

Ten knocks on the door to Professor Yifan's office, slightly anxious. Johnny opens the door immediately and pulls him inside, shutting it and locking it.

 

"Johnathan, what the hell is -" Ten's voice goes quiet as soon as he spots the scepter in Taeil's hands. "WH-WHAT THE HELL IS THAT, WHAT'S GOING ON, OH MY GOD KRIS HYUNG WHAT IS HAPPENING HELP I'M GONNA FREAK OUT"

 

Yifan's eyebrow twitches, and he pinches the bridge of his nose. "Calm down, it's just Baekhyun's orb."

 

Taeil looks towards Ten, eyes faintly glowing. Ten immediately feels at ease.

 

"Ten, I feel incomplete. Hold this with me for a second." Taeil holds out the scepter, and Ten gently grasps it, fingers radiating the same glow as Taeil's.

 

Both boys close their eyes, and there's another bright flash of light. When it stops, they're holding two scepters, one crescent moon and one full moon.

 

Ten looks towards Taeil, eyes shining. "What the hell is going on, Taeil hyung? I feel.. complete."

 

Johnny folds his arms and pouts. Yifan rolls his eyes.

 

"I don't know either, but I feel complete too. I guess this orb belongs to both of us." Taeil looks down at their weapons, unsure of what to do next.

 

Both boys look towards Johnny and Yifan, still fainty glowing. Johnny takes a step back and hides behind Yifan, feeling a little threatened by his boyfriend and roommate.

 

"… Don't look at me, we're in completely new territory here. I have no idea what you guys can do now." Yifan holds his hands up in protest.

 

Johnny rubs his eyes, forcing himself to calm down. "Wait. This isn't why we came here in the first place! Kris hyung, where's the rest of the orbs?!"

 

"Well, I have Suho's orb. So don't worry about that one. None of you kids have water powers anyway, right?"

 

"Oh my god, Krisho is real.." Ten whispers. Yifan shoots him a look.

 

Taeil holds Ten's hand, somehow mentally communicating with him that they're gonna put their weapon away. They cross the scepters between them, and in another flash of light, the orb is back in Taeil's hands. The architect gives it back to Yifan for safekeeping.

 

"There's one at NCITY aquarium. I think it's Luhan's, so take whichever friend of yours has telekinesis powers."

 

 

\--------------

 

 

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 12 DAYS

JUNGWOO, SICHENG, & KUN'S APARTMENT

 

Jungwoo sits in between Mark and Lucas as they play Mario Kart, spectating happily. Snowball lays in his lap, snoring softly.

 

Even though the volume level in his apartment has increased ten thousand percent, Jungwoo can't help but feel at ease. He spends a few moments reflecting on his life, and how grateful he is to have Lucas and Snowball on his side after all these years. Mark joining their little family just happened to be a lucky bonus.

 

Suddenly, Snowball sits upright, looking towards the window.

 

"What's wrong, Snow?" Jungwoo asks his dog.

 

Can you feel it? Something big is coming.

 

Jungwoo's blood runs cold.

 

"Zeus, what's wrong?" Lucas pauses the game and looks towards his boyfriend with concern.

 

"Are you okay, Jungwoo hyung? What's wrong, Snowball?" Mark pats the dog's head gently.

 

Jungwoo takes a deep breath. "Snowball said something big is coming."

 

Snowball hasn't stopped staring towards the window.

 

Something that's going to change our lives forever.

 

"Snowball, you're freaking me out. What's gonna happpen?!"

 

 

\-------------------

 

 

 

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 10 DAYS

CAFE HYDE

 

"Welcome back to Café Hyde! Doyoung, how are you? It's been a while!" Jaehwan is all cheery smiles until he sees that the vlogger doesn't have a smile on his face.

 

"Jaehyun, cut the lights."

 

Café Hyde goes dark and eerily silent as Jaehyun cuts off all the power with a flick of his wrist. When it comes back on, several levitating knives are pointed directly at Jaehwan's face, one against his throat.

 

Doyoung shoves his hands in his pockets, looking uninterested as possible. "I think you have something that belongs to us."

 

Jaehwan's cheery smile turns into a horrifying grin, sharp teeth visible. "Ooh, I'm so scared," he deadpans.

 

Yuta and Jaehyun tense as Sanghyuk appears from the kitchen, very visibly pissed off. Smoke comes pouring out of his nose, and when he opens his mouth, there's a bit of fire threatening to spill out.

 

"Are these guys giving you trouble, hyung?"

 

Jaehwan waves a hand in Sanghyuk's direction, gaze unwavering. "We're fine, Hyogie~" he sings, striking a tiny bit of fear into the boys' hearts.

 

In a flurry of smoke, Jaehwan disappears and is replaced with a perfect replica of Jeno. He still has that horrifying grin on his face, teeth even sharper than before.

 

Doyoung's eyes widen in disbelief and the knives drop to the floor, a loud clang resounding through the café. Jeno walks up to him, taking his clenched fist and holding it tightly.

 

"If I were you," Jeno says in Jaehwan's voice, tracing a finger across Doyoung's chin, "I'd think a little harder about who you're dealing with here."

 

Doyoung steps back so quickly that he trips and falls onto the floor, tears filling his eyes and fear piercing his heart. Yuta bends down immediately to tend to him.

 

"It's not him, hyung. Come on. Come back to me." Yuta gently shakes Doyoung, trying his best to bring him back.

 

In another flurry of smoke, Jeno is replaced with Sicheng, unable to wipe the grin off of his face. "Why don't you take your little friends and scurry on out of here, hmm?"

 

Enraged, Yuta lunges at Sicheng, grabbing his collar.

 

"Don't you fucking dare bring him into this."

 

The power cuts again and Jaehyun drags both boys out of the café, not ready to see Jaehwan shapeshift into Taeyong and threaten him, too. Not a word is spoken between the three of them until they reach their apartment, with the door shut behind them.

 

"… Let's.. Let's wait to get those orbs, okay?"

 

 

 

 

\------------

 

 

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 8 DAYS

NCITY AQUARIUM

 

Yuta stayed true to his word, and in just two days, the normal Doyoung returned to the family. While he still seemed a little wary, he was more than ready to find his orb and eliminate the red force once and for all.

 

The four boys stand in front of the entrance to NCITY aquarium, all three cautiously watching Doyoung to see if he can sense his orb. The vlogger closes his eyes and concentrates.

 

"… We must look so weird just standing in front of the aquarium like this." Johnny remarks, taking a long, obnoxious sip from his americano. Both Taeil and Ten lean in and smack him on the shoulder.

 

Doyoung side-eyes Johnny and smacks him on the shoulder, too. "It's here, I can feel something calling out to me."

 

 

\---

 

NCITY Aquarium is quite possibly one of the most beautiful places Ten has ever seen. The tanks full of creatures of all species stretch all the way to the ceiling, giving the entire aquarium a deep turquoise glow. It's dark like Café Hyde, but it gives off a completely different vibe; a softer, much more inviting vibe.

 

Ten looks over to his boyfriend, and to his surprise, this is the most at ease Johnny has looked ever since the semester started. He bumps his shoulder gently and intertwines their fingers, and when the photographer looks down at him, he offers a gentle smile.

 

"You look really comfortable." Ten remarks, and Johnny laughs softly.

 

"I've always felt more at ease around water, to be honest," Johnny looks all around them as they trail behind Doyoung and Taeil, taking a deep breath. "Before I met you, on nights I was super stressed out, or lacking inspiration, I would take a walk along the beach."

 

"It makes sense. I mean, you are a water sign, after all."

 

"I am?" Johnny looks back down at his boyfriend, eyebrow raised. "I didn't know you were an astrology person."

 

Ten scratches his head, starting to have doubts. "… Wait, when's your birthday?"

 

"Wow, you don't remember my birthday?" Johnny sticks out his bottom lip, exaggerating his pout. "I'm hurt."

 

"… Oh wait, I'm the water sign. Oops."

 

Their moment of peace ends abruptly as they bump into Taeil and Doyoung, who stopped in front of the tide pools. It's a busy day at the aquarium, so there's a giant horde of children surrounding them, picking up starfish and petting the manta rays.

 

"Do you see it?" Taeil asks, watching Doyoung's expression with curiosity.

 

The vlogger's eyes dart around the tide pools, hyper-focusing to differentiate the pearls and sponges from his orb. Without saying a word, he walks to the edge of the pool and points directly down.

 

The three boys walk over to him, and they look down to spot a manta ray that refuses to move. They look up at Doyoung, whose eyebrow is twitching in irritation. Taeil can see he's about to raise his hand and use his powers, so he grabs him.

 

"Be patient. The orb isn't going anywhere, and the ray will move soon enough." Taeil speaks in a gentle and reassuring manner.

 

Doyoung looks towards the architect, irritation clearly visible on his face. "It hasn't moved since we got here, hyung."

 

"It's been five minutes. If you're really that impatient, can you at least do it in a way that isn't obvious?"

 

Ten leans down and reaches into the tide pool, petting the manta ray in an effort to get it to move. Unfortunately, the ray seems dead set on not moving. Doyoung bends down next to him and closes his eyes.

 

Suddenly, the manta ray splashes around as it moves in another direction. After a few seconds of slow floating, it zooms off to the other side of the tide pools.

 

Johnny shoots him a look. "You moved it, didn't you."

 

"Was it obvious?"

 

The four boys look down into the spot where the ray once was, and they see a cracked pearl orb. Doyoung is about to reach in but Johnny grabs his hand.

 

"Hold on. It's gonna glow when you touch it, and all these people are gonna see. How do we stop that from happening?"

 

Taeil points to the camera around the photographer's neck, unimpressed. Johnny's jaw drops, and he points back at Taeil. "You're a genius."

 

Johnny scurries to a nearby spot at the pool, camera in hand, and flash on. He squats like every tourist dad taking photos, and gives Doyoung a thumbs up. "Whenever you're ready!"

 

Doyoung takes a deep breath and reaches into the pool, picking up the pearl orb. It glows momentarily, and he feels a big wave of energy rush through his body, while vivid images take over his mind.

 

\---

 

Shanghai, 1994

 

To his left, Kris is in the air, shield in hand as he deflects an attack from the giant scythe being swung at him. Kai is next to him, shooting rapidly at the creature wielding the scythe.

 

To his right, Lay is on the ground, crouched over an unconscious Suho and Baekhyun, while Chanyeol protects them from the shapeshifter nearby, giggling in a hideous manner.

 

Behind him, he hears Xiumin and Sehun yelling Chen's and name In panic, and a thud not long after. He hears D.O. fighting with a dragon somewhere in the distance.

 

He looks up, and sees the moon is dyed an awful red. Directly below it is Hongbin and a person he doesn't recognize, both of their eyes glowing red, and both of them sporting horrific fanged smiles. 

 

A loud howl resounds through the clearing, and he sees the second person lose control of his body. He begins to panic as the person grows to twice his size, gruesome claws replacing his hands. 

 

"LUHAN. WHAT ARE YOU DOING? HELP US." Kris yells from his spot in the air, deflecting another attack from the scythe. 

 

He stands frozen in fear as Hongbin is now standing next to a giant wolf, another deafening howl ringing through his ears. 

 

"LUHAN. I NEED YOU TO HOLD HIM BACK. TAO, FREEZE TIME. WE HAVE TO GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE." He hears Kris's voice again, and finally, he snaps out of it. 

 

With a simple gesture from Hongbin, the wolf starts charging towards him and Tao. He squeezes his eyes shut and focuses.

 

"LUHAN. TAO. NOW!"

 

He focuses all of his energy on the wolf, and manages to freeze him in mid air. Tao freezes the entire area, and everyone except for Kai, Kris, and the two are frozen.

 

"Kai, come on. Bring everyone back to base. Luhan, Tao, you're doing great. Can you hold us for two more minutes?"

 

Kai nods, and in a flurry of smoke he disappears with each member. Kris flies directly to Suho, picking him up and disappearing at an inhumane speed. He returns to help Kai with the rest of the members.

 

"Hurry up! I can't keep us frozen for much longer!" Tao yells. 

 

"You're doing great. We're almost there." he says. The two exchange a look of pain, and he focuses even more energy on the wolf just a few steps away from them. 

 

"Okay, that's everyone. Luhan, Tao, grab our hands." Kris and Kai return and hold on to both members. 

 

"On the count of three, release your energy. One.. two.. THREE!"

 

\----

 

Doyoung shakes his head violently as he's brought back to the present. Eyes wide, he looks up at Ten and Taeil.

 

"How long was I out? Where's Johnny?" the vlogger asks, immediately shoving the orb in his jacket. Taeil points towards Johnny, who's currently being scolded by a security guard.

 

"It's been about thirty seconds. Johnny's getting chewed out for taking a flash photo in front of a 'no flash photography' sign." Ten replies, still watching Doyoung closely. "What did you see?"

 

"I.. I don't know if we should discuss it here. Let's head back home."

 

 

\--------------------

 

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 5 DAYS

SM ENTERTAINMENT TRAINING ROOM, SEOUL

 

"Lay hyung, why did you call all of us here?" Jeno asks, confusion painted on his face.

 

Six boys are sitting in a half circle in the dance practice room, staring up at their hyung. Lay sighs and sits directly in front of them, crossing his legs and folding his arms.

 

"Donghyuck, Jaemin, I know you two have powers. We're here because something big is going to happen soon, and I want you all to know why.”

 

Jaemin gasps loudly and grabs Jisung's arm. The youngest looks at him with irritation and shoves him off.

 

"Chenle, Renjun, I'm going to explain in Korean. If you guys have any trouble following along, let me know, okay?" The two boys nod.

 

"Okay… Have you ever heard of the Tree of Life?"

 

 

\---------------

 

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 2 DAYS

JUNGWOO, SICHENG, KUN'S APARTMENT

 

Taeil and Kun stand in front of the door to Kun's balcony, wrapped in blankets and sipping tea. Stars litter the sky, and the moon hung in the sky, almost at its full phase.

 

Kun takes a long sip of his tea and looks over to Taeil, expression unreadable. "How much do you think is about to change?"

 

Taeil's gaze doesn't leave the almost-full moon, and he doesn't reply.

 

"We're probably going to have to fight, aren't we?"

 

The architect turns toward him and sighs. "I mean, I have a weapon now. You have one too, hiding in this city somewhere."

 

The two go silent and continue to stare out the window. Sirens wail in the distance, as if warning them of their future.

 

"………. Do you think we'll be able to finish our capstone?"

 

Taeil shoots him a look and bumps his shoulder.

 

"We are literally on the verge of a war, and you're worried about your grades?"

 

"Well yeah, I'm worried about our grades. We've been busting ass working on this capstone every night." Kun pouts in response.

 

Taeil's eyebrow twitches, but he can't help but smile. So far, this semester has been very good to both of them, despite the all-nighters and the involuntary war.

 

"… Do you want to spend the night?"

 

"I thought I was already gonna spend the night? We have to finish this next part of the capstone."

 

"No, not for that…"

 

“…. Oh?”

 

\------------

 

 

BLOOD MOON COUNTDOWN: 1 DAY

TAEYONG & TEN'S APARTMENT

 

"Jaehyunnieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee, pleeeeeeeeeeeease, you can't leave me alone!!!" Taeyong grabs at his boyfriend's sleeves, tears in his eyes.

 

Jaehyun turns around to look at him, irritated confusion on his face. "Taeyong, I am going to the grocery store! I'm not leaving you alone tonight!"

 

Taeyong's expression blanks immediately. A few seconds later, he switches to pure happiness, and hugs Jaehyun tightly. "Oh thank the gods! I don't know what I'd do with myself if I just woke up with powers and I was all alone."

 

"I know how much this means to you, dork. Can I go to the store now so I can make us dinner?"

 

"Hmm……. How about I go with you?"

 

"And add tons of junk food to the cart?"

 

"Yeah!" Taeyong holds onto his boyfriend a little more tightly, eyes sparkling.

 

Jaehyun makes a face, sighs, and nods. "You can add one thing."

 

\------------

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's getting ridiculous and i'm sorry


	10. the blood moon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> all it takes is one hour for complete chaos to break out.

**OCT 13, 2018**

 

 

**2:00PM - JUNGWOO, SICHENG, KUN'S APARTMENT**

 

Mark is happily sandwiched in between his favorite couple, a large bowl of popcorn in between his legs as they watch Chinese movies on Netflix. He has a big dumb grin on his face, as if absolutely nothing could go wrong in that moment, and he has to voice it, so he grabs the remote and pauses the movie.

 

"Y'know, I love you guys. Thanks for letting me hang out with you and intrude on your couple time so often." Mark wraps his arms around the couple, nuzzling both of their heads.

 

"Aww, Mark! We love you too! It's nice to have someone around who isn't just us," Jungwoo smiles at him.

 

Lucas, however, looks a little confused. "… I was literally just thinking about you saying that."

 

Both Jungwoo and Mark turn towards him, mirroring his confusion.

 

"Bless you."

 

"What?"

 

And then, Mark sneezes, and their popcorn goes flying _everywhere._ A strong gust of wind also propels Snowball, who had been sleeping in front of the three, directly into the TV.

 

Both Lucas and Jungwoo back away from him immediately, and Mark is just staring at the scene in front of him, dumbfounded. Jungwoo starts processing everything and immediately jumps up and opens the window curtain, revealing the beginning of the blood moon.

 

He moves towards Mark, expression unreadable. "Mark. Sneeze again."

 

"What?" Mark backs up in fear.

 

"Sneeze again!" Jungwoo jumps onto Mark and starts tickling him with the force of a thousand suns. The boy starts laughing uncontrollably, trying his best to push Jungwoo off of him, with no luck.

 

"Get him in the nose, Zeus! He'll sneeze in three seconds!" Lucas pulls Snowball and the remaining popcorn towards him, munching away with a dumb grin on his face.

 

"LUCAS, WHAT THE _HELL_ IS GOING ON WHY ARE YOU ENCOURAGING TH- AAAAA _CHOOOOOO!"_ In exactly three seconds, Mark sneezes _again,_ with such force that Jungwoo is blown straight off of him and directly into Lucas, who spills the popcorn again.

 

Lucas sadly stares down at his now empty bowl of popcorn. "I knew that was going to happen.. Why didn't I stop it?"

 

Jungwoo shakes his head, and just looks at Snowball. "Is this what you meant when you were talking about how our lives are going to change forever?"

 

_Yep. And this is only the start of it._

 

The vocalist takes one glance at both of his boys and gets up, running towards Sicheng's bedrooms. _"GUYS! WE HAVE A PROBLEM! LUCAS AND MARK HAVE POWERS NOW!"_

 

Mark and Lucas look at each other in shock as they register what Jungwoo just said. The next second, they're jumping up and down in excitement, yelling at 10,000% volume.

 

Sicheng and Jungwoo reappear in the hallway, the former's jaw dropping as he sees the giant mess that the three made. He runs his hands through his hair in frustration.

 

"Can you guys _please_ clean up your mess first before celebrating? There's popcorn everywhere! Snowball, don't eat it!!" Sicheng scolds the three of them.

 

None of them notice as Kun slips out the front door in a rush.

 

\----

 

 

**2:05PM - TAEYONG, TEN'S APARTMENT**

 

_"Jaehyunnie…. Jaehyunnie, I'm cold…"_

 

Jaehyun slowly wakes up to see Taeyong on top of him, gently poking his cheeks to wake him up. He blinks as he tries to register what's going on.

 

"Yong, what..?"

 

"Jaehyunnie.. I'm so cold.. Help me.."

 

Jaehyun moves Taeyong off of him and sits up in the bed, waking up much faster as he realizes Taeyong could be sick.

 

"Let me feel your forehead. Gods, I knew we shouldn't have done that.." The writer presses his hand up to his boyfriend's forehead muttering about how much he regrets leaving the window open last night, eyes widening as he realizes Taeyong is _ice cold._

 

He gets out of bed immediately, searching for blankets around the apartment. He returns to find Taeyong completely wrapped up in the comforter, wide anime eyes staring back at him.

 

Jaehyun tries his best  not to panic as he wraps up Taeyong in a few more blankets he found, and he disappears again to bring his boyfriend a cup of tea.

 

"Drink this, it should help warm you up." Jaehyun offers the cup of tea to his boyfriend, who gladly accepts it.

 

The only problem is that as soon as Taeyong brings it up to his lips, it's a block of ice… iced tea. Tea ice.

 

"…. Wait."

 

Jaehyun takes the cup out of his hands, and pulls all of the blankets off of him. He holds Taeyong's hands in his own and stares deeply into his eyes.

 

"Taeyong, I need you to focus on me. Can you do that?"

 

Taeyong nods and stares back at him. He slowly turns pink over the span of ten seconds, and then breaks eye contact, giggling and covering his face.

 

"This is so silly, Jaehyunnie.. What are you doing?"

 

Jaehyun sighs and rubs his temples. "Would you relax, please? I'm not trying to provoke you right now."

 

"Well…"

 

"Taeyong. Please. Just focus on me."

 

Taeyong takes a deep breath, and resumes eye contact with Jaehyun. They hold hands again, and Jaehyun feels Taeyong slowly begin to warm up again. Jaehyun sighs in relief, and pulls him towards the window.

 

"Put your hand on the window, Yong."

 

The designer does as he's told, and as soon as he makes contact with the window, beautiful ice crystal patterns begin to spread from his palm towards the edges of the window. He lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding, and he looks to his boyfriend, eyes shining with excitement.

 

Jaehyun is smiling warmly at him. "Congrats, my love, you have powers now."

 

Taeyong hugs him tightly, unable to contain his happiness. "It's all I ever wanted… We have to go dye my hair, Jaehyunnie. Come on."

 

Suddenly, both of their phones go off, with a notification from Ten in their group chat. Jaehyun picks up his phone, and their jaws drop in shock as they read the text.

 

"… Maybe that can wait."

 

 

\----------

 

 

**2:15PM - JOHNNY, TAEIL'S APARTMENT**

 

"Ten… What's wrong with me?!"

 

Ten can't even look at his boyfriend right now, let alone even try to understand what's happening. For the last ten minutes, Johnny's had tears streaming down his face, despite not feeling any type of sadness. He's even tried squeezing his eyes shut, but the tears just keep coming.

 

It's ridiculous, it's confusing, and Ten just can't handle it right now. He's sitting cross-legged on the floor, next to his boyfriend, who has given up on drying his tears. Johnny's laying flat on his back, hands clasped around his stomach, and he's staring straight at the ceiling as his tears continue to flow.

 

"This is it. This is how I die." the photographer monologues. He pulls out his phone to start writing his Twitter will, but that lasts about five seconds before he gives up in frustration. "I can't even read anymore. This is it."

 

"Can you stop being a dramatic old man please? I texted the family already, they should be on their way soon." Ten shudders as he hears another wail coming from the nearby bedroom.

 

Oh, right. _Taeil._

 

Ten couldn't forget about the architect, who had been _wailing_ for the last fifteen minutes about his 'other half.' He had guessed that Taeil was talking about Kun, his capstone partner, but it didn't make any sense.

 

Ten covers his ears in frustration, as Taeil's wailing grows even louder. Johnny has gone silent, opting to stare at the ceiling instead of try to do anything.

 

Gods, where the hell _was_ everyone?

 

Another five minutes pass, and the doorbell to Johnny and Taeil's apartment rings. Ten rushes to open the door, revealing… Kun?

 

"Hi Tennie. Where's Taeil?" the pastry chef greets him, looking over his shoulder to see if he can spot Taeil. Ten just sighs and lets him in.

 

"Are you the other half he keeps talking about?" the dancer folds his arms and looks pointedly towards Kun. What he doesn't expect is Kun blushing and looking away.

 

Ten raises an eyebrow and stops him from going to Taeil's bedroom. "…. Hoooooold up. When did you two become a thing?"

 

Kun looks everywhere except at Ten, and his eyes land on Johnny, who still hasn't moved from his spot, and who still hasn't stopped staring at the ceiling. "Hi Johnny."

 

"Hi Kun. I think I'm dying."

 

"I'll give your eulogy."

 

"Thanks, ge."

 

"KUN! DON'T AVOID THE QUESTION!" Ten yells and shakes the pastry chef, who still isn't looking at him, and is blushing even harder.

 

Kun shuts his eyes tight. "It was two days ago, okay?! I asked him if he wanted to spend the night!"

 

"AND YOU TWO HAD _SEX?"_

 

"WHAT?! NO! WE ACTUALLY SLEPT INSTEAD OF PULLING AN ALL NI- I DON'T HAVE TO EXPLAIN MYSELF TO YOU!" Kun breaks out of Ten's grip, face completely red as he finally makes eye contact.

 

The drama stops for a second when they hear another wail coming from Taeil's bedroom.

 

_"WHERE IS MY OTHER HALF? I NEED MY OTHER HALF!"_

 

Kun says nothing and runs straight to Taeil's room.

 

 

\--------

 

**2:30PM: DOYOUNG, YUTA, JAEHYUN'S APARTMENT**

 

**_CRACK!_ **

 

Doyoung wakes up with a loud snort. Disoriented, he rubs his face and looks around him, discovering that he fell asleep editing his latest vlog.

 

The sound of movement in the kitchen alerts him. Wary, he yells out for his roommate.

 

_“YUTA? WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING NOW?”_

 

Silence for five seconds.

 

_“IM NOT DOING ANYTHING? IM TRYING TO TAKE A NAP, ASSHOLE!”_

 

Annoyed, Doyoung gets up from his desk and stretches, not ready to face whatever surprise is waiting for him in the kitchen. Maybe Jaehyun left the oven on. But that doesn’t make sense, since he spent the night at Taeyong’s…

 

Doyoung drops his phone as soon as he steps foot in the kitchen.

 

Standing on top of the counter is his little brother, dressed in pajamas and looking extremely confused and afraid.

 

“…Jeno? Is that.. Is that actually you?”

 

Jeno turns around to face his brother, and immediately tears start welling up in his eyes. He jumps down from the counter and rushes over to Doyoung, engulfing him in a hug as he starts sobbing.

 

“H-hyung… I missed you so m-much…” he chokes out, “I had a n-nightmare after all of the stuff Lay hyung told us about the b-blood moon… and when I woke up the moon was actually red… And I got even more scared so I just kept thinking about you and next thing I know, I was here…”

 

Doyoung chokes back his tears and holds his brother even more tightly. Gods, he missed him so much. It’s unfortunate that they had to be reunited under these circumstances… But wait…

 

Doyoung looks his brother in the eyes. “Jeno, can you do something for me?”

 

Jeno looks back up at him, regaining his composure and wiping his tears. The trainee nods as Doyoung hands him a tissue.

 

“Just think really hard about Yuta. Like, as hard as you can.”

 

“Um… sure hyung…” Jeno closes his eyes and scrunches his face up a bit, and there’s another loud crack, followed by a cloud of smoke.

 

When the dust clears, Jeno is gone. A few seconds later, Yuta screams in his room.

 

_Bingo._

 

Doyoung rushes over to Yuta’s bedroom, to find the designer scrambling to shut his laptop, face completely red as he backs up on his bed. Jeno is standing directly in front of him, confused.

 

“Umm… hi, Yuta hyung.”

 

 _“WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HOW DID YOU GET HERE AREN’T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE IN-“_ Yuta cuts himself off as soon as he sees Doyoung’s shit-eating grin in his bedroom doorway.

 

_“DOYOUNG EXPLAIN NOW OR I SWEAR TO THE GODS IM GOING TO HIDE ALL OF YOUR FUCKING SHEET MASKS!”_

 

“Relax, Yuta.” Doyoung uses his powers to shove a pillow in the designer’s face, and walks over to his brother, whose shoulder he throws an arm around. “It seems like our Jeno can teleport now!”

 

Yuta pulls the pillow off of his face, flabbergasted. “So Taeyong wasn’t joking about all that blood moon bullshit?!”

 

“Nope. And this means we have a huge upper hand against the red force now.” Doyoung looks towards his brother.

 

“Jeno, I know this is scary and confusing, but I promise we can get through it, okay? I need you to go to Lay hyung and tell him everything that’s just happened.” Doyoung holds his brother’s shoulders reassuringly, trying his best to ease the fear.

 

“Hyung, i’m scared…”

 

“It’s okay to be scared. This is new for both of us.” Doyoung sighs. “Now you can come see me whenever you’re scared, right? But right now I need you to go to Lay hyung. He can help you a lot more than I can.”

 

Jeno frowns, but he nods in understanding.

 

“I love you, Jeno. You can do this. We can do this together.” Doyoung hugs his brother tightly, biting back the urge to cry.

 

“I love you too, hyung.”

 

With another loud crack, Jeno is gone.

 

Doyoung collapses onto Yuta’s bed, covering his face and letting out one choked sob. Yuta pats his shoulder awkwardly.

 

“… I know we just got done with the most emotional moment of 2018, but it looks like we have another problem.”  Yuta removes Doyoung’s arm from his face and shows him the group message from Ten.

 

Doyoung lets out the millionth sigh of that afternoon and rubs his eyes. “…. Come on, let’s go.”

 

“You drive?”

 

“No, you drive. I’m emotional right now.”

 

“Sure thing, emo kid.”

 

 

————

 

**2:45PM: JOHNNY & TAEIL'S APARTMENT**

 

Doyoung and Yuta are the last to arrive to the apartment, and fortunately for them, the door is already unlocked. The two stop for a moment and look at each other warily, and Yuta gently kicks the door open after they hear loud sobbing.

 

The two are greeted with complete chaos; the room might as well have been on fire. Johnny is still laying flat on his back in the center of the living room, staring at the ceiling, and surrounded by what seems to be a puddle of his own tears. Ten is laying on his stomach close by, motionless and head facing the ground in defeat. Nearby, Doyoung can hear another sob coming from Taeil's bedroom, followed by Kun's soft but panicked speech.

 

It takes Yuta a full fifteen seconds standing in the doorway to fully process what's going on. Dumbfounded, he asks, "What the _fuck_ is going on?"

 

Ten's head perks up immediately as he hears Yuta's voice, and in a split second, he gets up and rushes over to the two, hugging them tightly. "Oh, thank the _gods,_ someone finally showed up. Johnathan's been crying nonstop for the last half hour and Taeil's been hysterical about his 'other half.' Yuta. Please. Help us."

 

Doyoung stands in front of Johnny and looks down at him, speechless. Johnny's eyes flicker up to the vlogger, and then he resumes staring at the ceiling.

 

"Hi, Johnny."

 

"Hi, Doyoung. I think I'm dying. Kun's gonna give my eulogy."

 

"I'll pick out your coffin."

 

"Thanks."

 

Ten smacks Doyoung on the shoulder. _"WOULD YOU STOP JOKING ABOUT THAT? I'M NOT LOSING YOU."_

 

"Ten, I love you so much, but it's been half an hour. I'm pretty sure I'm gonna die."

 

_"JOHNATHAN, I SWEAR TO THE GODS I'M GOING TO KILL YOU IF YOU KEEP THIS UP."_

 

Yuta rolls his eyes and forces Johnny to sit up. He checks all his pressure points and stares deep into his eyes, trying to discover the source of the problem.

 

Johnny watches him in defeat. "I don't get it, Yuta. I feel fine. I'm not injured, nothing shitty happened, I'm just…. crying."

 

Yuta squints at him and leans in, touching their foreheads together. He closes his eyes and uses his powers to thoroughly assess what the hell is going on in Johnny's system.

 

There's something new just swimming around in his aura, and Yuta can't quite figure out what it is. He squishes his cheek right up against Johnny's, in an effort to listen to his ear.

 

"Yuta, what the actual hell are you -"

 

"Shh. I hear something." Yuta slaps a hand over the photographer's mouth and leans in hard.

 

His eyes widen as a lightbulb goes off in his head. He stands up and points to the bathroom.

 

"Ten. Doyoung. Go fill up the tub."

 

Ten blinks in confusion. "Excuse me?"

 

"TURN ON THE TUB! WE GOTTA THROW HIM IN THE TUB!" The rising urgency in Yuta's voice causes both Ten and Doyoung to scramble and run into the bathroom. Johnny looks up at the designer in fear, tears still streaming down his face.

 

"… Yuta…"

 

The designer doesn't look down at him. "Do you trust me?"

 

"I don't want to go in the tub! What the hell?!"

 

Yuta says nothing and uses his stupid gym-addict strength to drag the giant photographer to the bathroom, despite the resistance.

 

"TUB IS HALF FULL!" Doyoung shouts, saluting at Yuta. The designer looks down to Johnny, who seems even more disheveled than before, tears still streaming down his face. He bites back a laugh as he sees two big wet lines trailing the hallway, presumably from their local crybaby.

 

_"WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN HERE?"_

 

The four look up to see Taeyong and Jaehyun standing in the hallway, holding white hair dye and staring at the trail of tears on the floor. (that was horrible. I'm sorry) Ten waves at his roommate silently.

 

Doyoung fills them in. "Hi guys. We're throwing Johnny in the tub to make him stop crying, Jeno can teleport, and.. wait, is that hair dye?"

 

"I have powers, guys!" Taeyong grins excitedly. Ten claps in excitement.

 

"Tub is full now. Johnny. Do you trust me?" Yuta looks back down at his hostage, fighting back another urge to laugh at the sheer absurdity of the situation.

 

Johnny just sighs and nods. Yuta picks him up and slam dunks him into the tub, fully clothed. Water splashes everywhere, and after a few seconds, Johnny is just staring back at the five, dumbfounded.

 

Tears are still streaming down his face.

 

"Yuta.. It didn't w-" Johnny doesn't get to finish his sentence as Yuta forces his head under the water, immediately going into panic mode.

 

The remaining four watch in silence as Yuta continues to hold his head under the water, waiting for Johnny to stop struggling and just accept his fate.

 

_"………. Yuta, I swear to the gods if you just killed him I am going to kill you I don't care if you heal immediately I will-"_

 

Yuta shushes him and points to the tub, relaxing his grip on the photographer. Johnny stopped struggling and has adjusted himself a bit, and when he pulls his head out of the water, he's no longer crying.

 

"… What happened." Johnny's blank expression is met with five pairs of shocked eyes staring back at him. Taeyong points behind him, and the photographer turns.

 

The water has risen up from the tub and is staring back at him.

 

Well.. It looks like it is. Water doesn't actually have eyes.

 

Johnny tilts his head in curiosity, and somehow, the water tilts too, mirroring his movements. His eyes widen as he realizes what's happening, and he turns towards his friends.

 

"…. I'm… I'm Suho now, aren't I..?"

 

It takes a few seconds to register what he just said, but then Taeyong and Ten are _screaming_ and holding each other, jumping up and down.

 

"OH MY GODS LOVE KRIS HYUNG IS GONNA _FLIP_ WHEN HE FINDS OUT! THIS IS SO EXCITING!!!" Ten rushes over to hug his boyfriend, despite his current.. drenched state. When he lets go, surprisingly enough he's still dry.

 

Johnny finally steps out of the tub, and he shakes violently to dry himself off. Everyone takes a step back, but that seems to be pointless, as all of the water has gathered in his palms, and he gently pours it back into the tub.

 

The six of them stand there in silence for a few moments, trying to register exactly what happened. Suddenly, Kun pops his head in the room, and he looks like he's about to have a breakdown.

 

"This blood moon.. Is stressing me out. Please. Gods. One of you or all of you needs to help me figure out what's wrong with Taeil."

 

 

\---

 

 

All seven boys pile into Taeil's bedroom, where the oldest member of their family is flat out _bawling_ on his bed. Kun rubs his temples in frustration, moving to the window to check if the blood moon is over yet.

 

Ten sits on the bed in front of Taeil, holding his hands gently. "Taeil? It's me, your other half. Are you okay?"

 

Taeil's sobs grow quieter as he finally opens his eyes, and everyone lets out a gasp as they see that they're _glowing._ Ten casts some small orbs of light around the room, creating a warm glow.

 

"Taeil?"

 

The architect finally speaks. In a voice barely above a whisper, he asks, "Where is my other half?"

 

Ten's face immediately blanks, and all of the orbs disappear. He lets go of Taeil and messes up his hair in frustration.

 

"I don't get it. We share the orb, don't we? Why is he still freaking out?"

 

Yuta shoves him aside and sits in front of Taeil, staring deep into his eyes. He brings their foreheads together, attempting to understand what's going on in Taeil's system the same way he did earlier.

 

He pulls away immediately, getting off of the bed and backing up as far as possible. Fear and confusion paint his face.

 

"What the hell is going on?? Yuta, what did you see?" Doyoung asks.

 

"… That's not Taeil."

 

Kun looks like he's about to have a breakdown. "What the hell do you mean, that's not Taeil? Who is it then??"

 

"I.. I don't know." Yuta hides behind Jaehyun and Taeyong, peeking out from behind them at the Taeil who isn't actually Taeil.

 

Suddenly, the Taeil who isn't Taeil gets up from the bed, grasping Johnny tightly by the shoulders. The photographer freezes.

 

"Please, help me find my other half. I need it so badly. I need to be whole again." Taeil's eyes are glowing even more brightly as his grip tightens, desperation evident in his voice.

 

Kun stares out the window in frustration. "How long until this stupid blood moon is over? I need my partner back."

 

"Your partner, huh?"

 

"NOT NOW, TEN."

 

"Five seconds!" Doyoung shouts, checking his phone.

 

The boys just watch as Taeil goes from desperately repeating his question to _collapsing,_ Johnny catching him and laying him back on his bed. Yuta immediately checks to see if the old Taeil is back, and sure enough, the traces of whatever mysterious presence was there are gone.

 

Five minutes pass, and Taeil wakes up. Kun immediately goes up to him, hugging him tightly and letting out a choked sob. Taeil looks at his partner in confusion, along with everyone else in the room (except Ten).

 

"Wh.. What happened?"

 

"… The blood moon happened. Taeyong, Johnny, and Jeno have powers now." Doyoung replies softly, visibly uncomfortable from Kun's sudden display of affection.

 

Yuta shoves Kun off of Taeil, thoroughly assessing the architect. He pulls open his eyelids and blows in his ears and nose, earning a slap in the face.

 

"OW!"

 

"What the hell are you doing?!"

 

"I'm checking to make sure it's really you! I don't know if you know, but you weren't.. you weren't here for the last hour!" Yuta huffs, rubbing his cheek dramatically despite not feeling any pain.

 

"I was..?"

 

Ten sighs. "Yes, for the last hour you've been crying and screaming about your other half. It's been freaking us all out."

 

Without warning, all seven of them collapse onto the bed beside Taeil. The group stare up at the ceiling, unable to process everything that happened in the last hour.

 

"… What the hell do we do now?"

 

 


	11. MAMA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who is mama?

*kun rewinds time to 13 days before blood moon*

 

As soon as Taeil touches the orb, there's a flash of light and he swears time stops. When he opens his eyes, he's in a wide field of flowers, with no sign of humanity in sight.

 

"... Where on earth am I?"

 

_You're on Exo Planet, my moon child._

 

"... EXO PLANET?"

 

_You're not ready yet. Bring your other half, and we can discuss more._

 

And then Taeil is back in Professor Yifan's office, holding his crescent scepter moon, with Johnny and Yifan staring at him, eyes wide. He's unsure what the voice meant by 'other half,' so he just tells the two he feels incomplete.

 

Five minutes later, when Ten shows up and holds the scepter with him, there's another bright flash of light, and they're back in the field of flowers.

 

"TAEIL HYUNG. WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON?! WHERE ARE WE?!  I'M TOO YOUNG TO DIE OH MY G-"

 

_Relax, my moon child. You're on EXO Planet._

 

Ten and Taeil look around for the body attached to the voice, but they find nothing. Ten grabs Taeil's hand in fear.

 

"What do you want from us?" Taeil asks the void, and is met with a rush of wind as a response.

 

_You can call me MAMA. I've brought you two here because you and your friends are destined to reunite the heart of the tree of life._

 

"Wait, so Johnny was being serious about all of that?" Ten asks, dumbfounded. 

 

_There isn't much time. The red force will be attacking you soon, and you need to be ready. Reunite your friends with their orbs as well, and they will stand no chance._

 

"What? We're going to get attacked?!" Ten is starting to panic, not ready to fight.

 

Silence.

 

"... MAMA?" 

 

Taeil and Ten look around again, but there's nothing. Suddenly, they're back in Professor Yifan's office, each boy holding a moon scepter. 

 

\-----

 

*kun fast forwards to present day*

 

"Don't you kids have midterms to do?" Professor Yifan eyes the three boys standing around in his office, snooping around the various books and incomplete paintings.

 

"Nice try, Kris hyung. I already finished your paper!" Johnny grins and shoots finger guns at his instructor, who groans. 

 

"Plus, it's kind of hard to focus on academics when, well, there's monsters who are getting ready to kill you." Ten remarks, shrugging. 

 

Taeil folds his arms and leans back on Yifan's desk. "Which brings me to why we're here. Professor Yifan, do you know someone named MAMA?"

 

Yifan blinks in surprise. "You know what.. I actually don't remember that name. Huh. Maybe Lay knows. I'll email him later to ask."

 

Johnny snorts. "God, you guys are old. Who uses email to communicate?" 

 

"You use email to tell me you have to come to my office, don't you?"

 

Johnny blanks for a few seconds, then comes back to reality. "Wait. Kris hyung, I have something to show you! Do you have a water bottle?"

 

Wary eyed, Yifan hands him one of his water cups for his paint. Johnny holds the cup in his palm, focusing all of his energy on it. To everyone's surprise, the cup slowly fills up with water, despite no one pouring anything into it.

 

There's a moment of silence before Yifan gets up from his chair and scrambles to his closet. The three look after him in confusion, until he returns with a cracked blue orb. Without a word, he hands it to Johnny, who takes a step back as he feels a rush of wind. 

 

Everything goes blue.

 

 

\------

 

 

_An eternal night. Stars litter the sky, visible through the giant leaves of a tree._

 

_A confused, white-haired figure, sitting on a leaf and staring at everything around him._

 

_"Welcome to EXO Planet. I'm Suho. You and I were born to protect this tree."_

 

_The white-haired figure backs up in fear._

 

_A gentle hand held out. "There's nothing to be afraid of, Kris."_

 

_The white haired figure takes the hand, slowly easing up._

 

_A shared smile, bathed in blue starlight._

 

\------

 

Johnny comes back, and now the orb in his hands is bright blue. He awkwardly looks away from Professor Yifan, who raises an eyebrow.

 

"... What did you see, Seo?" 

 

"Uhhh, a really intimate moment between you and Suho. I don't think I was supposed to see that." Johnny covers his face.

 

_"YOU SAW KRIS AND SUHO HAVE SEX?"_

 

Taeil smacks Ten on the shoulder. Yifan immediately turns red.

 

"NO IT WAS JUST.. WHEN SUHO FIRST FOUND KRIS AND IT FELT VAGUELY ROMANTIC AGH I'M SORRY KRIS HYUNG" 

 

Taeil smacks Johnny on the shoulder. "Don't give your instructor a heart attack. What the hell is wrong with you?" 

 

The three boys look over to Yifan, who has his head down on his desk. Johnny has to hold back the urge to laugh. 

 

"It's okay it's okay! I could tell he loved you from the moment he first saw you." 

 

Yifan is silent. Johnny can tell he hit a nerve. Oops. 

 

He looks back down at the orb in his hands, wondering how he can activate the weapon. He tosses it into the air, and there's a flash of deep blue light. 

 

 

 

The orb never comes back down, and instead a shining gold trident lands in his hands. Decorated with radiant sapphires, Johnny is speechless as he realizes this is probably the most expensive thing he's ever held. As he turns it around in his hands, examining every detail, he realizes there's a new voice in his head.

 

_Greetings, my star child. I am MAMA._

 

_{ What? }_

 

_You and your friends are destined to reunite the heart of the tree of life, with these orbs._

 

_{ But what about EXO? }_

 

_As soon as the pieces are reunited, the twelve legends will regain their memories, and they'll be able to rebuild EXO Planet and continue their duties as protectors of the Tree of Life._

 

_{ … But what about the red force? }_

 

_As long as the red force exists on this planet, you will not be able to reunite the heart. You must eliminate them before you can reunite the pieces._

 

_{ … This can't be for real. }_

 

_it's very for real, my star child._

 

_{ Are Taeil and Ten your … 'star children' too? }_

 

_They're my moon children._

 

_{ This is too weird. }_

 

_You don't have much time to reunite your friends with their orbs. The red force are catching on to you. You can do it, my star child._

 

"… Johnny? Are you okay? You've been spaced out for almost five minutes now." Ten's waving a hand in front of his boyfriend's face, and suddenly he's back to reality.

 

He holds Ten's hand gently. "MAMA just told me we have a week to get the rest of the squad united with their orbs." He looks over to Yifan, whose attention is turned towards one of his unfinished paintings. "Kris hyung, Doyoung's little brother can teleport. Can you email Lay hyung and convince him to give Jeno the orbs? The more orbs we have, the easier it'll be to get the rest back from the red force."

 

Yifan blinks a couple of times as he realizes Johnny is talking to him. He leans back from his easel, folding his arms. "Sure, I can email him. How much time do we have again?"

 

"Not that much. MAMA told me that the red force are catching on to our plans, so they're coming after us soon. Once we get all the orbs, we can reunite the pieces of the heart of the tree of life."

 

Taeil's eyes widen. "Wait, we're back to the heart of the tree of life? What does that have to do with anything?"

 

"If we reunite the heart, EXO get their memories back and they can leave to rebuild EXO Planet! Doesn't that sound like a great idea, Kris hyung? You can go home!" Johnny exclaims. He blanks as soon as he remembers the next part.

 

"Oh yeah, and we have to defeat the red force. Like.. we have to kill them."

 

Ten chokes on his spit. Taeil's eyebrows raise so high they look like they'll fly off of his forehead.

 

"Pray tell, how are we gonna do that? They're MONSTERS. We're just college kids." Taeil asks, distress visible on his face.

 

"You're not just college kids, though." Yifan finally chimes in, earning surprised looks from the three. "You all have powers, some of which I've never even seen or heard of before. Not only that, but you have weapons too."

 

"And to top it all off, we have each other." Ten smiles, holding his boyfriend's hand tightly. "If it's 12 against 3, I think we can take them."

 

Yifan nods in agreement. "You're probably going to be fighting them multiple times, so keep that in  mind. I think your best bet for defeating them entirely will be during a lunar eclipse, because that was always when EXO and I won our battles against them."

 

"When is the next one?" Taeil asks as Johnny pulls out his phone to search for the answer.

 

"End of November. That gives you about a month to defeat them once and for all."

 

\---------

 

 

_EMAIL TRANSCRIPT BETWEEN CHINASHEEP@GMAIL & GALAXYFANFAN@GMAIL.COM_

_OCTOBER 17TH, 2018_

 

_> Xing. Good news. One of your kids has teleportation powers, so we can trade orbs. Have any of your kids activated theirs yet?_

 

_> >Hi Fanfan :) No one's activated their orbs yet, but I can sense a disturbance in the air. I'm going to have them do it sooner than later, because I can feel our half of the heart starting to go active._

 

_> Okay, good. I'm guessing one of your kids can fly?_

 

_> >Two, actually. And you have the one who can heal?_

 

_> I do. We need Xiumin's orb too._

 

_> >I'll let Jeno know that we need to trade then. _

 

_> Those kids literally hold our fate in their hands, you know. Three of mine have spoken to MAMA already._

 

_> >MAMA IS BACK? THAT'S WONDERFUL NEWS._

 

_> You remember her?_

 

_> >You don't? Weird. _

 

_> Well, MAMA told them that once they defeat the red force and reunite the heart, our members are going to get their memories back and we can finally leave this planet._

 

_> >Well, that’s kind of bittersweet. I was actually starting to enjoy being part of this group._

 

_> Really? You know SM is only treating you better because they treated me, Tao, and Luhan like shit, right?_

 

_> >Yes, I know. But once the heart is reunited, they won't have anyone to treat that way. :)_

 

_> Gotta go now. Get some rest, talk soon._

 

_> >See you soon, hopefully ! _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost at the end, yall. has this really been a three month project... wild.


	12. MAMA

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> who is MAMA?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're almost to the end, can you tell?

OCTOBER 22, 2018

 

SM ENTERTAINMENT ROOFTOP, SEOUL

 

Jeno looks down at the two orbs in his hands, his heartrate rising the more anxiety fills his thoughts. Lay pokes his shoulder reassuringly while the remaining four members of DREAM and Jaemin watch from a distance, gazes filled with worry.

 

"Are you ready? Your brother should be with Kris hyung by now, so I just need you to think about him."

 

The trainee hasn't responded, still staring at the two orbs in his hands. The last time he teleported that far was during the blood moon, and even though Lay has been teaching him how to use his powers, he's still scared to death at the possibility of something going wrong.

 

Jaemin walks over and pulls his boyfriend into a tight hug. They stay like that for a few moments, until he can feel Jeno finally relaxing. He pulls away and stares deep into his boyfriend's eyes.

 

"I love you, Jeno. You're going to be back before we know it. You can do it." Jaemin assures him, a gentle hand resting on his cheek. The rest of DREAM start cheering in the background, immediately ruining the moment.

 

"CMON HYUNG! YOU GOT THIS!"

 

A surprising but comforting yell from Jisung.

 

"WE LOVE OUR NO JAM JEN!"

 

A teasing but loving cheer from Renjun and Chenle.

 

"Once you come back, let's all activate our orbs together!" Donghyuck exclaims excitedly.

 

Jeno takes a deep breath and smiles at all of them. He speaks slowly, anxiety in his mind replaced with confidence.

 

"I'll see you guys in 20 minutes."

 

_CRACK!_

 

\------

 

NCITY BEACH CAVE

_(Johnny, Ten, Doyoung, Yuta, Sicheng, Taeyong, Jaehyun, Taeil, and Prof. Yifan are present.)_

 

Doyoung immediately scrambles up from his spot on a rock as he spots Jeno falling onto the sand in front of him with a loud crack. Professor Yifan and the rest of the boys look up from their  watermelon eating contest (that started off as a dare between Johnny and Yuta) just in time to witness another tearful reunion between the brothers. As soon as Jeno stands up, disoriented as he looks around, Doyoung wraps him in a bone-crushing hug.

 

"Gods, look at you Jeno. You've come so far. I'm so proud of you."

 

Jeno starts sobbing again, and the rest of the group have to look away because of their discomfort. Professor Yifan picks up the orbs from where Jeno dropped them during his fall, and tosses them to Yuta and Taeyong.

 

Yuta and Sicheng hold their cracked green orb together, while Taeyong holds his cracked cyan orb, and suddenly there's two bright flashes of green and cyan light.

 

Ten seconds later, Yuta and Sicheng are equipped with special boxing gloves, and Taeyong is holding a sparkly whip in his hands. While the two boxers look at each other in disbelief, Taeyong immediately runs over to his boyfriend, eyes shining.

 

_"JAEHYUNNIEE~~~ LOOK WHAT I HAVE!"_

 

"Nice to meet you, MAMA." Everyone except Taeyong turns in Yuta's direction, wondering if they'll hear MAMA's voice as well.

 

Johnny's confusion gets the best of him and he reaches out to Doyoung, who's continuing to console his younger brother. He asks, "Doyoung, when you activated your weapon, did you hear MAMA?"

 

"Well, I might have, but I probably didn't realize who it was at the time. I just felt incomplete, I guess in the same way that Taeil did."

 

Johnny nods, signaling he understood. "Whatever the case, it seems like we have enough firepower to fight the red force and get our orbs back now."

 

_"Oh, perfect timing. They're all in the same place. It's going to be so easy to kill them."_

 

The group goes silent as they hear three new voices enter the picture. Doyoung pales as he realizes who the voices belong to, and he urges Jeno to go back to Korea immediately.

 

Standing in front of them are the baristas of Café Hyde, horrifying smiles on their faces as they hold the stolen orbs.

 

Jaehwan tosses his in the air, cackling, and in a flurry of smoke, his arms have been replaced by extremely sharp blades.

 

Hongbin shoves his orb in one of the pockets of his coat, and he's levitating slightly, a stone-cold expression on his face.

 

Sanghyuk glares directly at Johnny and Ten, smoke blaring out of his nostrils. Gigantic dragon wings sprout out of his back, and when he opens his mouth to growl, there's fire coming out with it.

 

Johnny looks over to Yifan, hiding the panic on his face. "Hyung, take Jaehyun and go get the others. Hopefully we're not dead when you come back."

 

There's no denying that the seven boys are scared, but as soon as they all activate their orb weapons, they can hear MAMA's calm voice reminding them that they can do this.

 

_Good luck, my star children. May the leaves of the tree of life guide your path._

 

\------------

 

_{ The following excerpt is the battle transcript from how it played out on twitter a few days ago. }_

 

{ BATTLE: START! } KEN lunges for TAEIL!

 

 

TAEIL dodges KEN (JAEHWAN)'S lunge. YUTA comes in and delivers a punch straight to his face. KEN: 90% HP

 

 

SANGHYUK flies towards TEN, threatening to scratch him with his claws

 

 

TEN dodges! JOHNNY smacks SANGHYUK in the face with his trident! SANGHYUK HP: 85%

 

 

TAEIL decides to retaliate against KEN.

 

 

TAEYONG lassos KEN, trapping him! TAEIL uses his moon scepter to shoot a beam of light at KEN! KEN HP: 80%

 

 

HONGBIN scratches TAEYONG, causing him to let go of KEN!

 

 

TAEYONG HP: 70%

 

 

TEN blasts TAEYONG with a beam of light! TAEYONG uses the extra energy to freeze HONGBIN in place! HONGBIN HP: FROZEN

 

 

YUTA gets ready to attack KEN!

 

 

KEN rushes towards YUTA! YUTA dodges and jumps up! when KEN looks up, YUTA is gone and DOYOUNG fires bullets directly into his chest! KEN HP: 65%

 

 

KEN panics and disappears, dropping an orb!

 

 

HONGBIN breaks free from his icy prison, and goes straight for TAEIL!

 

 

TEN blasts JOHNNY with a beam of light! with the extra strength, JOHNNY successfully blocks HONGBIN using his trident! TAEIL shoots a moon beam at HONGBIN!

 

 

HONGBIN HP: 55% HONGBIN panics and disappears in a rush of smoke, dropping his orb!

 

 

 

YUTA, SICHENG, and TAEYONG go after SANGHYUK! TAEYONG lassos SANGHYUK, freezing him in place! YUTA and SICHENG deliver a double punch to his face!

 

 

SANGHYUK HP: 70% SANGYUK is PISSED!!!

 

 

SANGHYUK breaks free from his icy prison and lets out a terrifying roar, blasting fire at the three!

 

 

JOHNNY uses his water powers to pull from the ocean and completely drench SANGHYUK!

 

 

SANGHYUK: WET and USELESS!

 

 

SANGHYUK, drenched and angry: This isn't over yet, guardians! SANGHYUK flies away, dropping his orb!

 

 

BATTLE: COMPLETE

 

 

 

 

\--------

 

The seven boys stand on the beach, weapons in hand and panting heavily after the fierce battle. The only sound to be heard is the rush of the nearby ocean, reminding them that yeah, that really just happened. They really just fought the red force.. and won.

 

Johnny and Ten collapse onto the sand, letting out a loud sigh of relief as they stare into the afternoon sky. Doyoung shakes his head at both of them, but sits down next to them.

 

Yuta quickly surveys his friends, rushing to Sicheng and Taeyong to heal his wounds once he spots the scratches.

 

Taeil walks around the area, picking up the three orbs that the red force dropped in their panic, examining each one closely. The group stay like that until they hear a few voices coming towards them, realizing that Jaehyun and Professor Yifan have returned with the rest of the group.

 

"Wait, this is exactly what I thought we were going to find."

 

"WE GET IT, XUXI. YOU CAN PREDICT THE FUTURE."

 

Taeil looks up to see Mark running towards Johnny and Ten, diving onto them as he cries in relief. Lucas and Jungwoo run straight towards Sicheng and Yuta, and Jaehyun rapidly crushes Taeyong in a giant hug.

 

He blinks again as he realizes Kun is now directly in front of him, standing awkwardly.

 

"Oh thank the gods.. You're okay." Wait.. Is Kun blushing?

 

"Don't worry, Kun. We were never in danger."

 

Kun just shakes his head and takes Taeil's hand in his own, intertwining their fingers. "I'm gonna worry anyway, you dumb. That's just how I am."

 

"You'll make a great mother."

 

"…. Take that back."

 

Taeil just smiles back at him, tightening his grip on his partner. They hear a cough, and Taeil realizes Professor Yifan is now standing with them as well. He holds out his other hand to the instructor, placing the three orbs in his care.

 

Yifan's expression is unreadable as he eyes the orbs in his hands, cautious. "... You really fought off the red force. I can't believe this."

 

"This is a good thing, isn't it?" Taeil replies. "It means we actually do have hope. We can get you reunited with your members and back to your home planet."

 

"I know.. But that doesn't change the fact that all of you are so much _stronger_ than we were. When all twelve of us fought all six of them, we were evenly matched.. But it only took seven of you to take out three of them."

 

"It probably helps that we have the moon's energy on our side, and that I can control it. Ten and I could give the rest of the team more strength using our scepters."

 

"Speaking of which, let's get everyone their orbs." Yifan calls out to the rest of the boys, and they all corral into a circle on the beach.

 

"Okay kids, I know you're feeling a call to these orbs. Whose is whose?"

 

"Mine's the yellow one." Yifan tosses the cracked yellow orb to Jaehyun, and in a flash of yellow light, the bright orb has turned into a golden sword.

 

The writer is awestruck as he turns his weapon around in his hands. "This is pretty cool and all, but I don't know if I can still say the pen is mightier than the sword."

 

"Hold on, I need to take a picture of my knight in shining armor. Make a pose, Jaehyunnie!"

 

Everyone groans and rolls their eyes at the couple. Yifan coughs again to bring everyone's attention back.

 

"Um.. I think the light green one is mine.." Mark speaks up after Johnny nudges him, and he quickly accepts the cracked light green orb from the instructor. After a flash of pale green light, he's holding a gigantic hammer.

 

Suddenly, all of his shyness is gone, and the freshman is rapping up a storm as he swings his hammer around in delight, rapping about how he's basically Thor now. Johnny and Ten can't help but smile.

 

"Hold on, before we can continue, I think I know who my other half is." Doyoung pauses and walks over to Jungwoo, who looks towards him in shy surprise. The vlogger holds out his hand with confidence.

 

"This is all so sudden…"

 

"Jungwoo, just take his hand. Something really cool is about to happen." Lucas encourages his boyfriend, eyes shining.

 

Jungwoo shuts his eyes and takes Doyoung's hand. When he reopens them, he's holding.. a sniper rifle.

 

 _"WHAT?"_  Doyoung yells, " _IS THIS SOME KIND OF JOKE? WHY DO I HAVE THE PISTOL AND MR. SHY OVER HERE HAS A SNIPER RIFLE?"_

 

Yuta can be seen in the background laughing his ass off, until a floating umbrella lands right next to him and closes, trapping him in it.

 

"KUN GE, ACTIVATE YOUR ORB NOW. IT'S THE ONLY ONE LEFT."

 

Kun stares at Lucas warily, whose eyes haven't stopped shining. He takes his orb from Professor Yifan, and with a flash of gray light, he's holding a tiny dagger.

 

"… This has to be a joke." Kun's blanking out as he looks at the dagger, sincerely hoping that MAMA will say sike.

 

Not a word from MAMA, but there's another feeling he's sensing, followed by realization, and then dread.

 

Lucas runs at him full force, tackling him onto the sand, and there's another bright flash of light.

The two boys are laying in the sand, completely muffled by a giant, ornate shield.

 

There's excited chattering from all twelve boys as they realize what's going on, and Professor Yifan is continuing to just stare blankly at all of the craziness in front of him. He can't believe he really didn't notice all of these people with powers, right under his nose. There has to be a reason.. But what is it?

 

Oh wait, they're all silent now. And staring up at the sky.

 

Yifan snorts and snaps a picture, making a mental note to send it to Yixing later.

 

_Well done, my star children. You're almost there._

 

_The total lunar eclipse will be coming very soon, and it will be your chance to reunite the pieces of the heart._

 

_However, your battles aren't over. The red force will be coming at you with all of their strength now._

 

_You will have to eliminate them once and for all before you can reunite the heart. Otherwise, the red force will take it, and the universe will be thrown into a thousand years of chaos._

 

"But MAMA," Johnny says, "How do we know where our piece of the heart is?"

 

_It's closer than you think, my star child._

 

_It is your destiny to reunite the pieces of the heart. Everything will work out in the end._

 

_We will speak again soon. Good luck, my children._

 

There's another bright flash of light, and everyone's weapons have been returned to their orb form. There's a brief moment of silence before Johnny runs straight to Professor Yifan.

 

"KRIS HYUNG. YOU HAVE TO TEACH US EVERYTHING YOU KNOW. WE HAVE TO FIGHT NOW."

 

Yifan takes a step back, eyes wide. "What the hell are you going on about?"

 

"We need you to give us advice on how to defeat the red force. MAMA said we have to eliminate them before we can reunite the heart." Taeil replies. "There has to be something you remember, right? You're not that old."

 

Yifan side-eyes Taeil, who offers a smile. Johnny is seen cracking up in the background, and Ten is seen smacking him on the shoulder.

 

"There isn't really much I can tell you guys. Your powers are way different than what EXO and I had, and so are your weapons. We're in completely new territory here.

 

But if we're done now, I think it's time to head home. I'm sure all of you have a lot of work to do, and I have to start reading these gallery papers."

 

… Well, then.


	13. ncity observatory

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *somewhere in between this chapter and the previous chapter, kris got killed by the red force, and the squad trained for a month to defeat the red force. now they're at ncity observatory, the red force conveniently appear, and the final battle takes place.*

The sun is setting as the 12 boys arrive at NCITY Observatory, painting the sky a beautiful mix of oranges and purples. Taeil and Yuta stand in front with confidence, Doyoung next to them with his video camera.

 

"Where are we at, Yuta?" Doyoung asks the designer, camera in his face. Yuta flashes a wide smile at him, suddenly pulling Sicheng into frame.

 

"We're here at the lovely NCITY Observatory on this fine evening to get some answers to questions we've had all semester! Plus, I have an exam for my Astronomy class, but that has nothing to do with this." the designer delivers a thumbs up as Sicheng wordlessly stares a hole into the camera. Doyoung laughs lightly.

 

"And over here, we have.." the camera pans over to reveal a completely somber Johnny and Ten, holding hands and staring over the cliff, at the night lights of NCITY. Doyoung decides against filming them and instead pans to Lucas, Jungwoo, Kun, and Mark, who are busy taking selfies with the nightlife as their background.

 

Jaehyun looks over to them blankly. "Is anyone going to tell them that they have the calculator app open?"

 

Doyoung shushes him as Taeil guides everyone inside the observatory.

 

\------

 

All twelve boys are standing on the roof, defeated after finding zero answers they were looking for. Yuta takes one hard look at Taeil and gathers everyone's attention.

 

"I know we didn't find any answers here but I have a theory that I want to share with you all, and I need you to tell me if I'm crazy or not." the designer announces to the 11 boys, sitting down on the concrete.  "Come on, sit down with me."

 

Taeil folds his arms, brows furrowed in concern. "Explain, please."

 

"We all remember the events of the blood moon, right?"

 

Kun nods. Taeil shakes his head.

 

"I figured that would be your response, Taeil hyung. On that day you were hysterical, and your eyes wouldn't stop glowing. You kept crying and screaming for your other half."

 

"You even texted me asking where your other half was," Kun adds, "That's why I came over to help."

 

"I tried to help too, but you still kept asking for your other half." Ten chimes in.

 

Yuta points to both of them. "So Taeil hyung rejected his top two candidates for other half. This leads me to my next point: when I tried to read his aura. Sure, I've never had to read his aura before, but I could tell that it wasn't actually him."

 

Jaehyun squints. "Go on."

 

_"Please, do go on. We'd love to hear the rest."_

 

The mood drops as everyone turns in the direction of the voices, to see three figures descending to the rooftop. Yuta shuts his mouth as soon as he recognizes Jaehwan's horrifying laugh.

 

Everyone stands up, orbs in hand and ready to fight. Taeil and Kun nod at each other, and with a clench of the pastry chef's fist, time is frozen.

 

Taeil holds Kun's hand tightly and transfers moon energy to him. Kun squeezes his eyes shut, and Taeil watches as the moon rises and the people at NCITY observatory suddenly move faster and out of the environment.

 

When they unfreeze time, it's midnight and there are no civilians in sight. There's a moment of confusion until Johnny activates his orb, clutching his trident in anger.

 

"I'll never forgive you for what you did to Kris hyung." he hisses at Hongbin, who only smirks in response.

 

_"Don't worry. You won't live long enough to have the chance."_

 

_{ The following is a battle transcript that took place on Twitter. }_

**BATTLE NO.2: START!**

**TIME: 12:00AM**

**LOCATION: NCITY OBSERVATORY**

**NCT HP: 100% | RED FORCE HP: 100%**

**TURN 1**

JAEHWAN shapeshifts into a JAGUAR!   
TAEIL and TEN combine their powers to give an energy boost to JAEHYUN, TAEYONG, YUTA, and WINWIN!   
DOYOUNG and JUNGWOO use the bright blast of light to get into position!

 

**TURN 2**

JAEHYUN lunges for JAEHWAN!

**40% voted by himself, 60% voted with JOHNNY:**

JAEHYUN and JOHNNY lunge for JAEHWAN from two different directions!   
JAEHWAN jumps and dodges, and JOHNJAE hit each other!   
water and electricity don't mix....... :(

JOHNNY HP: 80%   
JAEHYUN HP: 80%

**TURN 3**

SANGHYUK blasts fire at MARK and LUCAS!

**0% voted for KUN to help, 100% voted for JOHNNY to help**

JOHNNY shoots water at SANGHYUK!  
SANGHYUK dodges, but his fire has been extinguished!

 

**TURN 4**

STATUS: SMOKY

**45% voted for LUCAS to predict the future, 55% voted for KUN to freeze time**

KUN freezes time!  
MARK swings his hammer: a large gust of wind clears the area!

 

**TURN 5**

YUWIN get ready to attack!

**75% voted to team up with TAEYONG, 25% voted to team up with MARK**

TAEYONG lassos HONGBIN, trapping him in an icy prison!  
YUTA punches HONGBIN in the face, while WINWIN punches him in the gut!

HONGBIN HP: 90%

**TURN 6**

HONGBIN: Enough of this bullshit. SANGHYUK!

SANGHYUK rushes at WINWIN and scratches him!

WINWIN HP: 50%

YUTA is PISSED!

 

**TURN 7**

YUTA gets ready to attack!

**60% voted to team up with MARK, 20% voted to team up with LUCAS, 20% voted to attack by himself**

TAEIL shoots a moon beam at YUTA and MARK!  
With the added strength, YUTA jumps onto MARK’s hammer, and MARK launches him into the air!  
YUTA dives straight for SANGHYUK and successfully punches him in the face!

SANGHYUK HP: 70%

 

**TURN 8**

HONGBIN gets too close to TEN and hypnotizes him!  
TEN: HYPNOTIZED and USELESS!

HYPNOTIZED!TEN shoots a light beam at TAEYONG!

TAEYONG HP: 80%

 

**TURN 9**

DOYOUNG wants to do something!

**33% voted to attack by himself, 67% voted to cause a distraction**

DOYOUNG shoots in a random direction, creating a loud noise to distract the red force!  
TAEIL shoots a moon beam at YUTA, giving him energy to heal WINWIN!

 

**TURN 10**

YUTA dashes to WINWIN, but JAEHWAN blocks his path!

**40% voted for JOHNNY to help YUTA, 60% voted for JOHNNY to help TEN**

JOHNNY moves to attack HONGBIN!  
HONGBIN dodges and scratches him!

JOHNNY HP: 50%

 

**KUN, frustrated: HOLD ON!  
KUN freezes time for 5 minutes!**

As soon as the boys are sure that time is frozen, Yuta desperately scrambles over to Sicheng, trying his best to heal him. Tears prick at his eyes as he pushes his palm again and again over the boy's wounds, but his healing powers don't come.

 

Sicheng finally brings up a hand to stop him, wincing at the motion. He looks up to Yuta, a faint smile in his eyes. "It's okay, Yuta. It's probably because we're frozen in time."

 

Doyoung confirms Sicheng's statement when he tries to levitate a rock, but nothing happens.

 

Meanwhile, Jaehyun shoots a deathly glare over to Johnny, who's clutching his side in pain. He slams his sword onto the ground and messes up his hair in frustration.

 

 _"JOHNNY FUCKING SEO, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GODS DAMN MIND?"_ he yells, causing everyone to take a step back in fear. None of them had ever seen Jaehyun this upset.

 

_"DO YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT'S HAPPENING RIGHT NOW? THIS ISN'T A GAME. THEY'RE GOING TO FUCKING KILL YOU."_

 

Johnny can't even look up at his best friend, his voice small. "They took Kris hyung away from me.. I can't let them take Tennie too. I can't afford to lose him, Jae.."

 

_"THEN FUCKING PULL YOURSELF TOGETHER. ACTING LIKE THIS ISN'T GOING TO SOLVE ANYTHING."_

 

"Enough!" Taeil yells, shutting Jaehyun down. "He gets it. Stop tearing into him. We have more important problems right now besides Johnathan's emo side taking over."

 

Kun nods. "He's right. We need a plan, otherwise these four-" he vaguely gestures to the frozen Ten, and the injured Johnny, Taeyong, and Sicheng, "aren't going to be the only casualties."

 

"We can't get Ten back until we get Hongbin out of the picture, and we need Yuta to be able to heal everyone. Kun, Lucas and I will focus on defending. Mark, defend Yuta while he focuses on healing. Doyoung, Jaehyun, Taeyong, focus on Hongbin." Taeil states, "and yes, Johnathan, as soon as you're healed you can focus on Hongbin too. Are we clear?"

 

"What about me?" a tiny voice from the top of the telescope shouts, and everyone looks in that direction. Jungwoo waves back at them shyly, from behind his sniper rifle.

 

"ZEUS, YOU'RE SO FUCKING CUTE!" Lucas yells.

 

"OH MY GODS! HE'S RIGHT!" Mark yells, next to him. Jaehyun looks like he's about to pop a blood vessel from how stressed the situation is making him.

 

"Jungwoo, if you see anyone in a dire situation, you make the headshot! Got it?!" Kun yells back up to him.

 

"Got it!" The tiny voice replies, and Mark and Lucas lose their shit all over again.

 

"Five minutes are up. Let's get this queso, everyone."

 

Kun un-freezes time, and the 11 boys are ready to get back into the mess.

**TURN 11**

HYPNOTIZED!TEN shoots a light beam at JOHNNY!

**40% voted for JOHNNY to dodge, 60% voted for LUCAS to block**

LUCAS successfully blocks TEN’s light beam!

 

**TURN 12**

JAEHYUN gets ready to attack HONGBIN!

**60% voted to team up with TAEYONG, 40% voted to team up with JOHNNY, 0% voted to team up with JOHNYONG**

TAEYONG freezes the ground around HONGBIN, causing him to slip and fall on his ass!  
JAEHYUN charges his sword with electricity, and slashes HONGBIN!

HONGBIN HP: 60%

 

**TURN 13**

SANGHYUK goes in for the kill with WINWIN!

**40% voted for MARK to help, 60% voted for KUN to help**

KUN blocks SANGHYUK from lunging at WINWIN, and bashes him with his shield!  
DOYOUNG shoots SANGHYUK in the wings!

SANGHYUK STATUS: 50% HP, FLIGHTLESS

 

**TURN 14**

TAEIL blasts LUKUN with moon energy!   
SANGHYUK is PISSED!

SANGHYUK lets out a terrifying roar and shoots a blast of fire at LUKUN!   
LUKUN successfully block!

MARK comes from behind SANGHYUK and launches him into the air team-rocket style with his hammer!

SANGHYUK HP: 30%

 

**TURN 15**

TAEIL blasts JOHNJAEYONG with moon energy!

JOHNJAEYONG get ready to attack!

**50% voted for YUWIN to join, 0% voted for LUKUN to join, 50% voted for JOHNJAEYONG to attack**

YUWIN try to join the fight, but JAEHWAN stands in their way!

TAEYONG uses his lasso to trap HONGBIN in a prison of ice!  
JOHNNY melts the ice as JAEHYUN shoots a blast of electricity at HONGBIN!  
It’s super effective!

 

**TURN 16**

HONGBIN HP: 40%   
SANGHYUK: STILL MID-AIR   
JAEHWAN: PISSED!

 

JAEHWAN shapeshifts into a DINOSAUR!

LUCAS: HOLY SHIT! THIS IS AMAZING, I LOVE DINOSAURS!  
LUCAS is EXCITED and unable to FOCUS!

 

**TURN 16**

TAEIL blasts a moon beam at MARK!  
MARK jumps up and smacks DINOSAUR!JAEHWAN in the head!

JAEHWAN is disoriented and returns to his human form!

JAEHWAN HP: 50%

 

**TURN 17**

HONGBIN and JAEHWAN team up!   
HONGBIN steals some of JAEHWAN’S health!

HONGBIN HP: 45%  
JAEHWAN HP: 45%

HONGBIN and JAEHWAN lunge for JOHNNY!

**0% voted for LUKUN to defend him, 100% voted for TAEIL to defend him**

TAEIL uses his moon powers to cast a light barrier around JOHNNY!

JAEHWAN and HONGBIN can’t get in!

 

**TURN 18**

JAEYONG try to attack JAEHWAN and HONGBIN!   
HYPNOTIZED!TEN steps in their path and blasts both of them with a light beam!

JAEHYUN HP: 60%  
TAEYONG HP: 60%

SANGHYUK finally hits the ground!

A cloud of red dust erupts, and when it clears, his body is gone!

SANGHYUK: DEFEATED

 

**TURN 19**

TAEIL blasts TEN with a moon beam!

DISORIENTED!TEN: …………??????

**60% voted for JAEYONG to attack, 40% voted for YUWIN to attack**

JAEYONG snap out of it and go for JAEHWAN!  
TAEYONG traps JAEHWAN with his whip!  
JAEHYUN stabs JAEHWAN through the stomach, and charges him full of electricity!

JAEHWAN poofs in a cloud of red dust!

JAEHWAN: DEFEATED

 

**TURN 20**

HONGBIN lets out a terrifying hiss as wings grow out of his back!

LUCAS starts laughing REALLY HARD!

HONGBIN: You really think this is over? Don’t forget, you’re just a bunch of fucking-

SUDDENLY, HONGBIN POOFS IN A CLOUD OF RED DUST!

JUNGWOO, waving from his spot by the telescope: you’re welcome!

HONGBIN: DEFEATED!

 

**THE RED FORCE HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED FROM NCITY!!**


	14. endgame

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> now that the red force has been defeated, what happens next? the answer will shock you.

As soon as Hongbin's body dissolves into red dust, Ten blinks and looks around in confusion. Taeil takes down the protective barrier around Johnny, and the photographer limps over to his boyfriend as fast as he can.

 

"Wh… Where am I…? What's going on- OH MY GODS, JOHNATHAN, ARE YOU OKAY?" Ten's confusion quickly turns to panic as his boyfriend reaches out to hug him, but instead collapses on the floor. Yuta rushes over to them, immediately kneeling down to begin the healing process.

 

Jungwoo returns to the area with Lucas and Mark, who refuse to stop peppering him with kisses and affection. There's a loud chatter forming as they reunite with Taeil, Kun, and Sicheng as well, who let out a loud victorious cheer.

 

The chatter dies down as soon as they realize Johnny is unconscious, Mark and Jaehyun immediately rushing to Yuta's side. The designer's brows are furrowed in deep concentration as his palms hover over each of Johnny's wounds, the gashes slowly fading from his skin.

 

Mark grasps his brother's hand tightly, fear piercing his heart as he realizes there's a chance Johnny may never wake up. Ten bites his lip so hard that blood starts trickling down, anxiety flowing through his veins.

 

After what feels like hours, but is closer to five minutes, Yuta leans back, a deep sigh escaping his lips. He rubs his temples as he looks up to the rest of the group.

 

"I've done the best I can. Give him a few minutes. The rest of you, come here so I can heal you too." he sighs again, standing up and stretching.

 

While Yuta resumes healing the rest of the team, Mark, Ten, and Taeil are sitting in a circle around Johnny, who still hasn't woken up.

 

"Is there a way to make him up faster..?" Mark asks, voice barely above a whisper. Taeil and Ten share a knowing glance, ready to try something.

 

Both boys place a hand over Johnny's heart, eyes glowing as they transfer their energy to him.

 

"Come back to us, my love," Ten whispers, fingertips glowing brightly, "We can't lose you. Mark can't lose you. And I definitely can't lose you."

 

There's a moment of silence.

 

And slowly, but surely, Johnny opens his eyes.

 

Immediately, all three boys crush him in a hug, choked sobs coming from Ten and Mark. Johnny blinks slowly as he registers what's happening.

 

"Ten.. Mark.. Taeil hyung…  Is it over? We did it, right?"

 

"Johnathan, just shut the _fuck_ up and let us love you please," Taeil whispers, a single tear rolling down his cheek.

 

"… Oh my gods, did Taeil hyung just swear at me?"

 

"YEOROBUN! HE'S AWAKE!" Lucas yells, and the rest of the team rush over to join the emotional family. Next thing Johnny knows, he's been engulfed in a gigantic dogpile of 12 people.

 

_Hyung, we were so worried!_

 

_We thought we were gonna lose you forever!_

 

Johnny just sighs and smiles. "I feel like my life is complete now, and I could die happily." he admits, letting out a soft laugh.

 

Ten smacks him. "DON'T JOKE ABOUT THAT, YOU ASSHOLE!"

 

Yuta releases himself from the dogpile, pulling Taeil out with him. The two look out towards the cityscape, the night sky slowly blending into morning.

 

"Now that we're safe… Can you guys please tell me if this is crazy or not?" Yuta asks, looking pointedly at the dogpile. All eyes are on him.

 

"Yes."

 

"Doyoung, shut up, I haven't said anything yet."

 

"We literally just fought and destroyed the red force, and you think whatever you're about to say is crazy?" Jaehyun retorts.

 

"Yes. Jaehyun. Shut up."

 

Yuta lets out a huff and makes a wide gesture to Taeil. "I was gonna say this in a lighter way, but I don't care anymore. I'm tired. Taeil has our half of the heart inside of him."

 

"He _WHAT?"_ Kun yells, immediately standing up from the dogpile. _"HOW DO WE GET IT OUT?"_

 

"I don't know, ge! The lunar eclipse is literally later tonight. He's probably going to go into another crazy fit about his other half!" Yuta exclaims. "It makes sense, doesn't it? Why else would he scream for his other half and reject both you and Ten?!"

 

Kun shares a look of worry with Taeil, knowing that there's much more at stake than their capstone and graduation. You didn't hear it from Taeil, but he definitely fell deeply in love with the pastry chef during that battle.

 

"Is it even a physical object? Maybe it'll just.. naturally find its way out of him during the eclipse?" Mark suggests.

 

"He's not constipated, Mark." Jaehyun raises an eyebrow.

 

"I KNOW. Shut up. But think about it, if it took over his body like you said it did, then it's probably more like a ghost rather than a physical object!"

 

"… I think you've been reading too many comic books." Johnny stifles a laugh.

 

Mark clenches his fist. "We literally. We literally just…... Oooooookay." he takes a deep sigh. "We'll see if I'm right later tonight."

 

"How about we all just get some rest and reunite on the beach tonight, before the eclipse?" Johnny suggests. Everyone nods, eager to get whatever sleep they can.

 

 

\-----------------

 

 

NCITY BEACH, 11.25.18

7:30PM

LUNAR ECLIPSE COUNTDOWN: 10 MINUTES

 

 

"I'm never going to forgive you for picking the beach," Jaehyun growls at the photographer, shivering in his parka. The photographer just grins in response.

 

"What can I say? I'm drawn to water." Johnny strikes a stupid pose, and Ten smacks him on the shoulder.

 

"It's not that cold, Jaehyunnie." Taeyong purrs, hugging his boyfriend tightly in an effort to warm him up.

 

"You're made of ice, Yong."

 

Taeil drags a hand over his face and lifts Kun's arm to check his watch. There's five minutes left until their lives change forever. He lets go of the pastry chef's arm, watching it fall back down to his side.

 

His eyes slowly examine Kun's figure until he reaches his face, making eye contact with him. Kun's hand comes back up to his side, taking Taeil's hand in his own.

 

Kun closes his eyes, bringing Taeil's hand to his forehead. He lets out a deep sigh.

 

"Whatever moon gods are out there.. Please, please don't take him away from me." Kun whispers, so only Taeil can hear, and presses a kiss to the architect's hand.

 

Taeil bites back the tears threatening to leave his eyes, and he pulls Kun into a hug, the first hug they share with such deep emotion attached to it, and possibly the last.

 

They stay like that for a moment, only to be interrupted by Lucas's loud voice.

 

 _"MARK! ZEUS! IT'S STARTING!"_  He points to the sky, and the moonlight slowly escapes them.

 

When Kun lets go of Taeil, his eyes are glowing, and he's calm.

 

"Taeil?" Kun whispers, fully aware that Taeil actually isn't in front of him.

 

"My other half… It's coming." the Taeil-that's-not-actually-Taeil speaks slowly.

 

"You.. Are you going to take him away from me, too?"

 

_Worry not, Kun._

 

Kun ignores MAMA's head in his voice and asks the question again. He's not surprised when Taeil-that's-not-actually-Taeil doesn't respond.

 

**_CRACK!_ **

 

The twelve boys look over in the direction of the loud noise, and standing in front of them are the members of DREAM, Jaemin, and Lay.

 

Ten, Taeyong, Jungwoo, and Lucas choke as they realize that there's a member of EXO standing in front of them.

 

Johnny's jaw drops. ".. Wait. Don't. Don't tell me-"

 

He's cut off immediately as Mark runs straight past him, making a beeline for Donghyuck and Jisung.

 

 _"HYUCK! JISUNG! OH MY GODS! I MISSED YOU GUYS SO MUCH!"_  the boy tackles both of them into a bone-crushing hug, and the three collapse in the sand, loud chattering between them.

 

Kun forgets about Taeil for a moment as he realizes _Chenle and Renjun_ are right in front of him, running straight for him, and tackling him into the sand.

 

 _"KUN GE!!!!!!!!!"_  Chenle immediately starts sobbing into his chest, hugging him so tightly that Kun feels like he can't breathe. _"I MISSED YOU SO MUCH. WHY HAVEN'T YOU CALLED ME."_

 

"I- Chenle- Renjun… Are you guys really in front of me? Is this really happening?" Kun's so overwhelmed that he doesn't even know what to do.

 

"Yes, it's real. Jeno teleported all of us over here." Lay replies, smiling at the 18 boys in front of him. "I'm Lay, it's a pleasure to meet all of you. Kris has said so much about all of you."

 

Johnny's ears immediately perk up as soon as he hears Kris's name. "Do you know where he is? Is he okay? He's not actually-"

 

Lay's smile falters. ".. I'm sorry Johnny, I'm afraid he actually is."

 

Johnny's gaze falls to the sand, speechless. He already knew the truth, but it hurts even more to have someone double confirm it.

 

He doesn't notice as Jisung comes up to him and takes his hand.

 

"Jeno, what are you holding?" Doyoung asks his younger brother, examining the glowing object in his arms.

 

"This.. thing I'm holding," Jeno explains, taking a few steps, "has been plaguing my thoughts for the last week, asking for its other half."

 

Jeno stops in front of Taeil, whose eyes are glowing the same hue as the object in Jeno's hands. Jeno holds the object directly in front of Taeil's heart, and the glowing grows brighter.

 

"This thing.." Jeno continues to explain, "told me to come here, to him. This thing.. is the heart of the tree of life."

 

The 18 boys fall silent as they witness the spectacular sight in front of them. The glowing grows brighter and brighter, and with a quick flash of light, Taeil collapses to the ground. Kun panics and rushes to pick him up, but the rest of the boys are awestruck by what's in Jeno's hands.

 

Jeno walks back to Lay, handing him the glowing heart. Lay's eyes glow for a moment, and then he returns to normal, smiling with gratitude at Jeno and the boys in front of him.

 

"Thank you, all of you, for reuniting the heart of the tree of life. It's been a long thirty years, and we can finally return to space and rebuild EXO planet."

 

Taeyong finally speaks up, voice shaky. "What do you mean.. we…?"

 

**_CRACK!_ **

 

"HYUNG! HYUNG! WHERE ARE YOU!"

 

As if 19 boys on a beach wasn't way too much already, the remaining ten members of EXO have suddenly arrived on the beach as well, Kai immediately teleporting to Lay and tackling him into the sand.

 

"We remember! We finally remember!" Baekhyun exclaims excitedly, fingers glowing brightly. Ten has to take a step back as he realizes what's going on.

 

Lay laughs softly at Kai and Baekhyun, beaming up at the rest of the members as they stop in front of him. "Guys, I'd like you to meet the boys who brought your memories back."

 

_Park Jisung, Na Jaemin, the guardians of flight._

 

_Zhong Chenle, Huang Renjun, the guardians of force._

 

_Lee Jeno, the guardian of teleportation._

 

_Lee Donghyuck, the guardian of fire._

 

_Jung Jaehyun, the guardian of electricity._

 

_Kim Jungwoo, Kim Doyoung, the guardians of telekinesis._

 

_Wong Yukhei, Qian Kun, the guardians of time._

 

_Mark Lee, the guardian of wind._

 

_Lee Taeyong, the guardian of frost._

 

_Nakamoto Yuta, Dong Sicheng, the guardians of healing._

 

_Moon Taeil, Ten, the guardians of light._

 

_And Johnny Seo, the guardian of water._

 

 

There's a moment of silence as the members of EXO take in the boys in front of them, ruined almost immediately by Sehun.

 

"Why are there so many of them?" he deadpans. Suho smacks him on the shoulder.

 

"I'm sorry about him, he's just.."

 

"I'm Sehun."

 

Suho sighs. "Yes. He's Sehun."

 

"Oh thank the gods, they have the same dynamics as us." Ten lets out a breath he didn't know he was holding.

 

"But wait," Tao pipes up, "Where's Kris hyung?"

 

The beach goes silent once again, as all of them notice the heart is levitating from Lay's hands. It continues to rise further in the sky, stardust gathering around it as it rotates.

 

Johnny's jaw drops as he realizes what's about to happen, and he gets _excited,_ yelling loudly and cheering. Everyone looks at him in confusion, only to have their silent questions answered as they realize the stardust is starting to form a body.

 

The heart rotates faster and faster until it emits a bright flash of light, and before they even realize it, Kris is standing in front of them, icy white hair and a confused look on his face.

 

_"KRIS HYUNG!"_

 

Johnny immediately tackles him into the sand. Ten jumps on top of both of them, sobbing.

 

_"THANK THE FUCKING GODS YOU'RE BACK! DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MANY TEARS I CRIED FOR YOU? HOW MANY LIVES I SLAUGHTERED FOR YOU?!"_

 

"…. What the actual hell are you going on about?" Kris is disoriented, trying to shove the sobbing couple off of him, but he goes still as soon as he realizes who's standing above him.

 

"… Suho."

 

"Kris.."

 

"… You.. Do you remember everything..?"

 

Suho smiles faintly. "I do."

 

 "Johnny. Ten. Please get off of me."

 

The couple roll off of their favorite instructor, who gets up from the sand and hugs Suho tightly. Taeyong, Ten, Jungwoo, and Lucas collectively lose their shit in the background as they realize that Krisho is, indeed, real.

 

The two celestial beings break away from each other, sharing a deep gaze and turning to the rest of their members. "Are we ready to rebuild EXO Planet?"

 

There's a chorus of cheers between the twelve of them, as the remaining 18 watch in complete silence.

 

Suho, Kris, and Lay address the boys directly. "Thank you for defeating the Red Force and reuniting the heart of the Tree of Life. Now, we're going to leave to rebuild EXO Planet."

 

Baekhyun laughs. "Maybe one day you can come visit us!" he exclaims, his glow matching the brightness of his laughter. Ten squints at him.

 

There's a rush of wind, and stardust circles the twelve members of EXO. The wind gets more violent, and the stardust grows brighter and brighter, until it stops entirely, leaving nothing but sand in its wake.

 

Taeyong's eyes threaten to pop out of their sockets, and he runs to the spot where EXO was. "THAT'S IT? THEY'RE GONE? I DIDN'T EVEN GET THEIR AUTOGRAPH?????"

 

_Congratulations, my star children. You've fulfilled the prophecy and reunited the heart, just as I knew you would._

 

Johnny immediately looks up at the sky, watching as the eclipse nears its conclusion. "MAMA.. what happens now?"

 

_As soon as the eclipse is complete, you will no longer have powers._

 

"We WHAT? Oh my gods. JENO, WE NEED TO GO HOME NOW." Jaemin exclaims, shaking his boyfriend rapidly.

 

The members of DREAM say their goodbyes to their families, quickly but just as emotional as possible. With a loud CRACK, the 12 original boys are the only ones left on the beach.

 

With the energy on the beach returning to a low hum, the remaining boys focus their attention on Kun and Taeil, the latter asleep in Kun's lap. Johnny watches as the lunar eclipse concludes, their night illuminated by the moon once again.

 

Silence.

 

Taeil opens his eyes.

 

The group release a collective sigh, and Kun is so overwhelmed that he lets out a choked sob and he _kisses_ Taeil, hugging him tightly and refusing to let go.

 

Lucas snaps a picture, snickering as he shows it to Jungwoo and Mark.

 

"Is that it, then?" Jaehyun asks. "None of us have powers anymore?"

 

He pokes Taeyong in the face, but his boyfriend only stares back at him blankly. "Really? You didn't feel a shock?"

 

"… No?"

 

Johnny squints at the ocean and raises his hand, hoping the ocean will respond.

 

Nothing happens.

 

"… I guess that's it." he concludes. "It's.. It's finally over. Gods… What a wild ride."

 

The twelve boys are silent as they watch the ocean, listening to the rush of the waves crashing against the shore.

 

There's no telling where their journeys will take them now, but they knew that they would be more than ready for whatever life decided to throw at them next.

 

"…This is gonna make such a great story for UNCT Night Night."

 

Ten smacks Johnny on the arm.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I CANNOT BELIEVE.. IT'S FINALLY OVER.   
> this was such an interesting project to take on, unlike anything i've ever done before. if you've been following on twitter or tumblr, THANK YOU for tuning in! 
> 
> i'm not sure when i will start my next au, but it may be based on the cowboy fic.. but you didn't hear that from me ;)
> 
> it's weird putting your child down to rest for the last time. or i guess it's like.. graduating, or something. 
> 
> whatever the case, i'll see you on twitter at @_seojohnny, where you can witness me being a complete moron, or not! until the next fic. 
> 
> xoxo, pink


End file.
